This book explores the genesis and structure of the coup-installed regimes in Iran, Turkey, and Egypt, with particular emphasis on the interactions between the three ruling institutions across several decades: military, security, and politics. It analyzes the revolutions from above in these three countries and the trajectories of their respective regimes: Iran became an absolutist monarchy that was overthrown from below; Turkey developed a limited democracy; and Egypt evolved into a police state. This divergence, the book argues, was determined by the power struggle within the ruling bloc between the military, security, and political institutions-what it calls the power triangle. The discussion is organized in three parts. Part I examines how the Iranian regime was transformed into an absolutist monarchy, Part II highlights the limits of military guardianship in Turkey, and Part III considers the politics of repression in Egypt and especially how power relations between the country's military, security, and political institutions influenced the way they direct the regime one way or another.