Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T11:20:56.865Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Oil, Islam, and the Middle East: An Empirical Analysis of the Repression of Religion, 1980–2013

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2017

Daniel Albertsen  and
Indra de Soysa
Daniel Albertsen*
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Indra de Soysa*
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Daniel Albertsen, Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: dania@stud.ntnu.no; or to: Indra de Soysa, Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: indra.de.soysa@svt.ntnu.no.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Daniel Albertsen, Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: dania@stud.ntnu.no; or to: Indra de Soysa, Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: indra.de.soysa@svt.ntnu.no.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is a lively debate on the relative impacts of Islam, oil wealth, and Middle Eastern institutional legacies regarding democratization and the spread of liberal values. We examine this issue using religious repression. We argue that oil-wealthy rulers use religious monopoly to control dissent. Our results show that oil wealth increases religious repression above the effects of Muslim dominance and a host of sundry controls. The Middle East and North Africa region seems to matter more than Islam. Interestingly, the conditional effect of oil and the Middle East and North Africa region is positive on religious freedom. The data suggest that several Gulf monarchies have more religious freedoms than other Muslim dominant states, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, or even Israel and Jordan. The worst religious repression is among oil producers in Central Asia. The results are robust to a host of intervening factors, different measures of oil wealth, alternative data on religious freedom, and estimating method.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 249 - 280
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

We are extremely grateful to Matthias Basedau and Jonathon Moses for useful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of the article. Comments received from two reviewers and the editors were unusually insightful and encouraging. We thank Jos Elkink, Krishna Vadlamannati, and the seminar participants at the Department of Political Science at University College Dublin for many useful insights. The usual caveat applies.

References

REFERENCES

Acemoglu, Daron. 2005. “Politics and Economics in Weak and Strong States.” Journal of Monetary Economics 52:1199–1226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James. 2012. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.Google Scholar
Achen, Christopher H. 2005. “Let's Put the Garbage-Can Regressions and Garbage-Can Probits Where They Belong.” Conflict Management and Peace Science 22:327–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ai, C., and Norton, E.. 2003. “Interaction Terms in Logit and Probit Models.” Economics Letters 80:123–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alesina, Alberto, Arnaud, Devleeschauwer, William, Easterly, Sergio, Kurlat, and Romain, Wacziarg. 2003. “Fractionalization.” Journal of Economic Growth 8:155–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
An-Naim, Abdullahi. 2009. Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Sharia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Basedau, Matthias, and Lay, Jann. 2009. “Resource Curse or Rentier Peace? The Ambiguous Effects of Oil Wealth and Oil Dependence on Violent Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research 46:757–776.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bill, James A. 1988. The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Brunschweiler, Christa N., and Bulte, Erwin H.. 2008. “The Resource Curse Revisited and Revised: A Tale of Paradoxes and Red Herrings.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 55:248–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, and Smith, Alistair. 2011. The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behaviour Is Almost Always Good Politics. New York, NY: Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Cederman, Lars-Erik, Wimmer, Andreas, and Min, Brian. 2010. “Why Do Ethnic Groups Rebel? New Data and Analysis.” World Politics 62:87–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cingranelli, David L., and Richards, David L.. 1999. “Measuring the Level, Pattern, and Sequence of Government Respect for Physical Integrity Rights.” International Studies Quarterly 43:407–417CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collier, Paul. 2010. “The Political Economy of Natural Resources.” Social Research 77:1105–1132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coppedge, Michael, Lindberg, Staffan I., Skaaning, Svend-Erik, and Teorell, Jan. 2015. “Measuring High Level Democratic Principles Using the V-Dem Data.” www.papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2613828 (Accessed on November 7, 2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Soysa, Indra and Neumayer, Eric. 2007. “Resource Wealth and the Risk of Civil War Onset: Results from a New Dataset of Natural Resource Rents, 1970–1999.” Conflict Management and Peace Science 24:201–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Soysa, Indra, and Nordås, Ragnhild. 2007. “Islam's Bloody Innards? Religion and Political Terror, 1980–2000.” International Studies Quarterly 51:927–943.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Soysa, Indra, and Malmin Binningsbø, Helga. 2009. “Devil's Excrement or Social Cement? Oil Wealth and Repression, 1980–2004.” International Social Science Journal 57:21–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Larry. 2008. The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World. New York, NY: Henry Holt.Google Scholar
Donno, Daniela, and Russett, Bruce. 2004. “Islam, Authoritarianism, and Female Empowerment: What are the Linkages?” World Politics 56:582–607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorsey, James. 2016. “Creating Frankenstein: The Saudi Export of Ultra-Conservatism.” www.theglobalist.com/saudi-arabia-export-of-conservatism-islam-religion-wahhabism-extremism (Accessed on October 1, 2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearon, James D. 2003. “Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country.” Journal of Economic Growth 8:195–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fish, Steven M. 2002. “Islam and Authoritarianism.” World Politics 55:4–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fish, Steven M. 2011. Are Muslims Distinctive? A Look at the Evidence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, Max. 2012. “The Real Roots of Sexism in the Middle East: It's Not Islam, Race, or ‘Hate’.” www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/the-real-roots-of-sexism-in-the-middle-east-its-not-islam-race-or-hate/256362 (Accessed on September 29, 2016).Google Scholar
Fox, Jonathan. 2000. “Religious Causes of Discrimination against Ethno-Religious Minorities.” International Studies Quarterly 44:423–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Jonathan. 2016. The Unfree Exercise of Religion: A World Survey of Discrimination against Religious Minorities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankel, Jeffrey A. 2012. “The Natural Resource Curse: A Survey of Diagnoses and Some Prescriptions.” www.dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/4454156/Frankel_NaturalResource.pdf?sequence=1&origin=publication_detail (Accessed on November 7, 2017).Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford. 1968. Islam Observed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gleditsch, Nils Petter, Wallensteen, Peter, Eriksson, Mikael, Sollenberg, Margareta, and Strand, Haavard. 2002. “Armed Conflict 1946–2001: A New Dataset.” Journal of Peace Research 39:615–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grim, Brian J., and Finke, Roger. 2007. “Religious Persecution in Cross-National Context: Clashing Civilizations or Regulated Religious Economies?” American Sociological Review 72:633–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurr, Ted Robert, and Jaggers, Keith. 1995. “Tracking Democracy's Third Wave with the Polity Iii Data.” Journal of Peace Research 32:469–482.Google Scholar
Gurses, Mehmet. 2009. “State-Sponsored Development, Oil and Democratization.” Democratization 16:508–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, Lawrence, and Huntington, Samuel P., eds. 2000. Culture Matters How Values Shape Human Progress. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Henderson, Conway. 1991. “Conditions Affecting the Use of Political Repression.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 35:120–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 1997. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York, NY: Touchstone Books.Google Scholar
Ianaccone, Laurence R. 1998. “Introduction to the Economics of Religion.” Journal of Economic Literature 36:1465–1496.Google Scholar
International Country Risk Guide. 2014. “The International Country Risk Guide: Researcher Dataset.” www.prsgroup.com (Accessed on November 7, 2017).Google Scholar
Jackman, Robert W., and Miller, Ross A.. 2005. Before Norms: Institutions and Civic Culture. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Kukathas, Chandran. 2003. “Ethical Pluralism from a Classical Liberal Perspective.” In The Many and the One: Religious and Secular Perspectives on Ethical Pluralism in the Modern World, eds. Madsen, R., and Strong, T. B.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kuran, Timur. 2004. “Why the Middle East Is Economically Underdeveloped: Historical Mechanisms of Institutional Stagnation.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 18:71–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipset, Seymor M. 1994. “The Social Requisites of Democracy Revisited.” American Sociological Review 59:1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, David, Kelsay, John, and Sachedina, Abdulaziz A., eds. 1988. Human Rights and the Conflict of Cultures: Western and Islamic Perspectives on Religious Liberty. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Lust, Ellen. 2011. “Missing the Third Wave: Islam, Institutions and Democracy in the Middle East.” Studies in Comparative International Development 46:163–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahdavy, Hossein. 1970. “The Pattern and Problems of Economic Development in Rentier States: The Case of Iran.” In Studies in the Economic History of the Middle East, ed. Cook, M. A. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Menaldo, Victor. 2016. The Institutions Curse: Natural Resources, Politics, and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neumayer, Eric. 2005. “Do International Human Rights Treaties Improve Respect for Human Rights?” Journal of Conflict Resolution 49:925–953.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newey, Whitney K., and West, Kenneth D.. 1987. “A Simple, Positive, Semi-Definite, Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance Matrix.” Econometrica 55:703–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Inglehart, Ronald. 2004. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2011. “Mecca or Oil? Why Arab States Lag in Gender Equality.” Presented at the Global Cultural Changes Conference, The University of California.Google Scholar
Paasonen, Kari, and Urdal, Henrik. 2016. “Youth Bulges, Exclusion and Instability: The Role of Youth in the Arab Spring.” www.files.prio.org/Publication_files/prio/Paasonen, Urdal - Youth Bulges, Exclusion and Instability, Conflict Trends 3-2016.pdf (November 7, 2017).Google Scholar
Peyrouse, Sebastian. 2010. “Why Do Central Asian Governments Fear Religion? A Consideration of Christian Movements.” Journal of Eurasian Studies 1:134–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pipes, Daniel. 2015. Nothing Abides: Perspectives on the Middle East and Islam. London: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Poe, Steven C. 2004. “The Decision to Repress: An Integrative Theoretical Approach to the Research on Human Rights and Repression.” In Understanding Human Rights Violations: New Systematic Studies, eds. Carey, S., and Poe, S. C.. Aldershot: Ashgate, 16–38.Google Scholar
Rehman, Javaid, and Breau, Susan C., eds. 2007. Religion, Human Rights and International Law: A Critical Examination of Islamic State Practices. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, Michael L. 2012. The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, Rodney, and Bainbridge, William. 1996. A Theory of Religion. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Stark, Rodney, and Finke, Roger. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Stepan, Alfred C., and Robertson, Graeme B.. 2003. “An “Arab” More Than a “Muslim” Democracy Gap.” Journal of Democracy 14:30–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toft, Monica Duffy. 2007. “Getting Religion? The Puzzling Case of Islam and Civil War.” International Security 31:97–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, and Soysa, Indra de. 2016. “Do Resource-Wealthy Rulers Adopt Transparency-Promoting Laws? An Empirical Analysis, 1980–2012.” International Studies Quarterly 60:457–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Ploeg, Frederick. 2011. “Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?” Journal of Economic Literature 49:366–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Max. 1950. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
Wenar, Leif. 2016. Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules That Run the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wiggins, Vince. 1999. “Comparing Xtgls with Regress Cluster ().” www.stata.com/support/faqs/statistics/xtgls-versus-regress (Accessed on November 7, 2017).Google Scholar
Winship, Christopher, and Mare, Robert D.. 1984. “Regression Models with Ordinal Variables.” American Sociological Review 49:512–525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar