Machiavelli said of people that they were easily afraid, that between their little comfort and the insecurity of change they will chose their comfort and that money is the main thing that makes people go around.

This is why people in the arab world protested because of food prices, corruption had been known for years, and it's still there, but it's not enough to make people revolt, they had to get really hungry to get pissed off. It's also why the saudis gave 40 grands to each and every one of their citizen, it was a ''don't revolt'' bribe. It worked.

So if you're an authoritarian government who wants to keep power, all you have to do is use fear and money and you'll be mostly alright, problems arise once your military stops working in your favor and money dries up.