It appears that these monarchies enjoy a form of traditional authority that the region’s secular nationalist rulers never had. Being descendants of the Prophet, as in Morocco and Jordan, or having custodianship of the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, as in Saudi Arabia, bestows a legitimacy on the countries’ rulers that is directly linked to Islam.
当然，石油金元有助于维系专制，但摩洛哥和约旦没有这一稳定因素。事态表明，这些王权政府拥有一种传统权威，是该地区的世俗民族主义统治者所没有的。传承着先知穆罕穆德血脉的摩洛哥与约旦王室、保管着圣城麦加和麦地那的沙特阿拉伯，其统治者经由这种直接的伊斯兰纽带获得了某种合法性。