Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen – Authoritarian regimes in the Arab World are in turmoil. Different forms of statehood are the central demand of the protest movements: Democracy and rule of law instead of authoritarian rule. The panel discusses the characteristics of authoritarian regimes in the Arab World in the light of the current turmoil. How do or did these forms of statehood work? Why have they been stable for so long? What lead to their erosion? And how could new and more democratic forms of statehood emerge in the Arab World?