ABSTRACT
The focus in this chapter will be on the structural and cultural variables touching on religion, democratisation and human rights. Apart from some common features, each of these countries represents a different case. Thus, Algeria stands for a rentier state in armed hands, Libya is an irrational state under international pressure, Morocco has a neo-patrimonial monarchy negotiating its own historical domination, Mauritania stands for liberalisation in an ethno-tribal fragmentation and Tunisia represents liberalisation in a corporate state.
