Introduction -- The search for sovereignty in an insecure world -- The origins of the presidential security state -- Basic components of the regimes -- Centralized state systems in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, and Algeria -- Presidents as managers in Libya, Sudan, and Yemen -- Constrained presidencies in Lebanon and Iraq after Hussein -- The monarchical security stats of Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, and Oman -- The politics of succession -- The question of Arab exceptionalism -- The sudden fall -- Conclusion -- Afterword
