Monarchies would appear to be a dying breed of political system, and those in which royal heads of state rule as well as reign are rarer still. As to the Middle East, the fall of the shah of Iran in 1979 was widely regarded as betokening the imminent demise of other dynastic regimes in that part of the world. Yet a closer look at Jordan and Saudi Arabia—both critically important to U.S. interests in the area—indicates that their governments seem to enjoy a considerable degree of legitimacy and, despite major problems, are likely to survive for some time to come. They do, however, face significant challenges in a period of rapid and unrelenting change. and