Elites et périphérie : reproduction de l’ordre politique ou vecteur du changement ? : le cas de la monarchie pétrolière des Al-Sabah (1899-2014)

Depuis le début des révoltes arabes de 2011, on assiste, au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du Nord à l’émergence politique de communautés jusqu’alors marginalisées, à la périphérie du pouvoir. La monarchie pétrolière du Koweït ne fait pas exception; c’est ainsi que les Bédouins, naturalisés depuis le début des années soixante et intégrés tardivement à la communauté des citoyens ont à leur tour émis leurs doléances auprès du pouvoir des Sabah. C’est ce phénomène que cette thèse analyse, le replaçant dans son contexte historique et politique. Elle explique les implications politiques du changement social parmi les Bédouins - à savoir l’émergence d’une nouvelle génération particulièrement virulente depuis le début des années 2000 - et démontre comment ce phénomène ne saurait se comprendre sans une lecture plus large du système d’autorité sur lequel s’est construite la monarchie des Al-Sabah depuis le 18e siècle lorsqu’elle s’est constituée en dynastie tribale. La contribution originale de cette thèse réside dans son approche méthodologique d’histoire sociologique comparative qui permet de déchiffrer la nature de l’ordre et de l’autorité politiques au Koweït. L’étude montre que les aspects fondamentaux de la structure d’autorité contemporaine de la dynastie des Al-Sabah trouvent leurs origines dans les logiques dynastiques des tribus arabes classiques telles qu’elles ont été analysées par l’auteur médiéval, Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), dans son œuvre Al-Muqaddimah.Since the unfolding of the Arab revolts in 2011, we have witnessed the rise and revolts of marginalized communities at the periphery of power everywhere in the MENA region. Kuwait too has witnessed since the start of the millennium the rise of its periphery, its naturalized tribesmen, latecomers to the nation’s fabric. In this study, I analyzed this phenomenon and placed it in its deeper historical and political context. I explained that the implications of socio-political change happening within Kuwait’s badu population can only be understood if the nature of the authority structure of the Al-Sabah’s monarchy is properly comprehended. The novelty of the thesis lies in its historical sociological approach to decipher the nature of political order and authority in Kuwait. It argued that the core aspects of the contemporary authority structure of the Al-Sabah’s monarchy can be traced back to the original tribal dynasty functioning according to the logics of political power of Arabian dynasties as analyzed by the early Muslim scholar, Ibn Khaldun in his Al-Muqaddimah

Limits of political clientelism: elites’ struggles in Kuwait fragmenting politics

Based upon fieldwork carried out between 2012 and 2014, this article sheds light on the dynamics of socio-political change unfolding in Kuwait since the turn of the 2000s and which has led to the erosion of the old social pact. It shows how elite rivalry has taken a new turn, breaking with succession customs and with increasing power struggles between princes of the second generation of the Al Sabah royal family, vying to use the constitutionally-enshrined succession rules to their advantage. Focusing on the rivalry between former PM Nasser al-Muhammad and the powerful Ahmad al-Fahd that was played out in the open, the article analyses their strategies of co-opting contending actors in parliament and society in order to build alliances mixing sectarian and identity politics with clientelist logic. Played against the background of another fundamental trend in Kuwait, i.e. the rise of a younger generation of citizens –especially among the Bedouins- in search of new modes of politics and better access to state resources, these patronage techniques and the use of political money are proving less and less effective as scandals affect the royals’ aura of respectability. The paper concludes that, together, the two phenomena of elite-rivarly on one side and the rise of dissatisfied youth on the other have contributed to the blurring of the usual sociological categories of Kuwaiti society (Urbanites/Bedouins/Shiites) and the fragmentation of Kuwaiti politics.Limites du clientélisme politique : luttes intra-dynastiques et fragmentation des forces politiques au Koweït - Sur la base de travaux de terrain effectués entre 2012 et 2014, cet article met en lumière les dynamiques socio-politiques qui depuis le début des années 2000 révèlent l’érosion du pacte social au Koweït. Il montre comment les rivalités entre membres de la famille royale Al Sabah ont pris un tour nouveau depuis 2003, avec la rupture de certaines coutumes successorales et l’avènement de luttes de pouvoir au sein de la deuxième génération de princes, qui cherchent à tourner à leur avantage les règles de succession prévues par la constitution. En se concentrant sur la rivalité, largement rendue publique, entre l’ancien Premier ministre Nāṣir al-Muḥammad et le puissant Aḥmad al-Fahd, il analyse les stratégies que ces derniers ont mises en place pour coopter des parlementaires et autres acteurs influents de la société, et renforcer leurs alliances jouant sur des solidarités sectaires et identitaires mais aussi sur une logique clientéliste. Ces techniques de patronage et le versement d’argent à des fins politiques, qui ternissent l’aura de respectabilité de la famille royale, se révèlent de moins en moins efficaces, surtout pour contrer une deuxième tendance politique de fond au Koweït, à savoir l’émergence d’une nouvelle génération, particulièrement virulente parmi les Bédouins, qui cherche par de nouveaux mides politiques, une meilleure redistribution des richesses de l’État. L’article conclut que la combinaison de ces deux phénomènes — rivalité au sein de l’élite, d’un côté, et montée d’une jeunesse insatisfaite, de l’autre — a contribué à la confusion des catégories habituelles de la sociologie du Koweït (citadins / Bédouins / chiites) et à la fragmentation de la vie politique koweïtienne.The Succession Crisis and Intra‑family feuds Breaking the balance of power between royals: the consolidation of the Jābir branch The rising second generation of princes Nāṣir al‑Muḥammad al‑Aḥmad Al Ṣabāḥ and the Shiite Alliance Sectarianism as an opportunity: 2008 and the forging of an alliance with the Shiites The limits of co‑optation: the Bahraini crisis and its impact on Kuwaiti Shiites Aḥmad al‑Fahd al‑Aḥmad Al Ṣabāḥ: “Opposition” Supporter Rivalries with the ḥaḍar in Kuwaiti Sports and Parliament Media battle: Airing the opposition’s ideas Qatar and the International Sports’ Connection Pragmatism and the Convergence of Interests within the Tribal and Islamist Opposition The Royals’ Aura of Respectability Erodes Conclusion</strong

Limits of political clientelism: elites’ struggles in Kuwait fragmenting politics

Based upon fieldwork carried out between 2012 and 2014, this article sheds light on the dynamics of socio-political change unfolding in Kuwait since the turn of the 2000s and which has led to the erosion of the old social pact. It shows how elite rivalry has taken a new turn, breaking with succession customs and with increasing power struggles between princes of the second generation of the Al Sabah royal family, vying to use the constitutionally-enshrined succession rules to their advantage. Focusing on the rivalry between former PM Nasser al-Muhammad and the powerful Ahmad al-Fahd that was played out in the open, the article analyses their strategies of co-opting contending actors in parliament and society in order to build alliances mixing sectarian and identity politics with clientelist logic. Played against the background of another fundamental trend in Kuwait, i.e. the rise of a younger generation of citizens — especially among the Bedouins — in search of new modes of politics and better access to state resources, these patronage techniques and the use of political money are proving less and less effective as scandals affect the royals’ aura of respectability. The paper concludes that, together, the two phenomena of elite-rivarly on one side and the rise of dissatisfied youth on the other have contributed to the blurring of the usual sociological categories of Kuwaiti society (Urbanites/Bedouins/Shiites) and the fragmentation of Kuwaiti politics.

Limits of political clientelism: elites’ struggles in Kuwait fragmenting politics

Based upon fieldwork carried out between 2012 and 2014, this article sheds light on the dynamics of socio-political change unfolding in Kuwait since the turn of the 2000s and which has led to the erosion of the old social pact. It shows how elite rivalry has taken a new turn, breaking with succession customs and with increasing power struggles between princes of the second generation of the Al Sabah royal family, vying to use the constitutionally-enshrined succession rules to their advantage. Focusing on the rivalry between former PM Nasser al-Muhammad and the powerful Ahmad al-Fahd that was played out in the open, the article analyses their strategies of co-opting contending actors in parliament and society in order to build alliances mixing sectarian and identity politics with clientelist logic. Played against the background of another fundamental trend in Kuwait, i.e. the rise of a younger generation of citizens — especially among the Bedouins — in search of new modes of politics and better access to state resources, these patronage techniques and the use of political money are proving less and less effective as scandals affect the royals’ aura of respectability. The paper concludes that, together, the two phenomena of elite-rivarly on one side and the rise of dissatisfied youth on the other have contributed to the blurring of the usual sociological categories of Kuwaiti society (Urbanites/Bedouins/Shiites) and the fragmentation of Kuwaiti politics.

Kuwait's Welfare System: Description, Assessment and Proposals for Reforms

This report is the result of a research project conducted by Sciences Po’s Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policy (LIEPP). The report aims to analyze Kuwait’s current social policy system, identify key challenges, and in response to these challenges, propose general reforms. This report is split in two parts: the first part provides an overall description of Kuwait’s welfare system, and assessment of main challenges. The second part proposes guidelines and recommendations to develop new venues for social policies in Kuwait, with a strengthened focus on social investment for a dynamic society and economy less dependent on oil revenues

State and private sector in the GCC after the Arab uprisings

While the Gulf private sector has made huge strides since the first oil boom, most of its activities still amount to more sophisticated rent recycling rather than autonomous diversification. Its interests are in stark opposition to those of the citizenry at large, as it provides no taxes, little employment and few investment opportunities for GCC nationals. Instead, business and other social forces face a zero-sum conflict over — in some cases increasingly scarce — state resources. This structural isolation of business helps to explain Gulf capitalists' weak role in today's public political arena despite a strong pre-oil history of collective action. In recent decades, business elites have either kept their heads below the parapet or have provided auxiliary public support to beleaguered local regimes. They have for the most part abstained from or failed in electoral politics; in austere times, regimes have privileged the distributional interests of the state salariat and consumers at large over those of business. Gulf business has a chance for a greater developmental role and political autonomy only if it increases its interdependence with society at large through providing a tax base, employment and investment opportunities for GCC citizens. Of the three, employment is the most important and could decide the political fate of private capital in the Gulf in the long run