Many explanations for the Middle East's lack of #democracy focus on the absence of certain prerequisites. But what if those explanations are missing the real story? Today, we're diving into Eva Bellin's 'The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective' to challenge that conventional wisdom. We'll explore why the strength of the coercive apparatus, rather than a lack of civil society or democratic culture, has been the decisive factor. We'll also look at how things like patrimonialism and international support play into this. Get ready to shift your perspective on democratization in the #MENA region.