The latest developments in the MENA region have again sparked the scientific discussion about regime stability in autocratic political systems. The book at hand offers a theoretical contribution form a political economy perspective by modelling the strategic options of the autocrat. The author identifies a substitution relationship, in which the ruler matches a certain stage of economic development with the right level of repression. Instead of focusing on the absolute level of repression and welfare, regime instability is explained via factors within the system, without recourse to exogenous shocks.