The latest developments in Tunisia has ended the hope for democratic governance in the region and revived the debate about the robustness of authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The uprisings in Syria and Bahrain have been crashed while no political transition in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, and Sudan has managed to consolidate democracy and instead relapsed to authoritarianism. Such outcomes and the role played by regional powers, namely Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Iran have highlighted the importance of the regional dimension of authoritarianism in the region. This paper argues that regional involvements during and after the Arab Spring of 2011 have been characterized by geopolitical competition. Rregional competitive involvements have contributed to authoritarian resilience in the face of popular uprisings and precluded political transitions in the MENA region by increasing the regime repressive capacity, demonizing the opposition, and hardening the political positions of the local parties involved in the negotiations.