How the oil curse went global | Foreign Policy

Posted by Matt in October 19th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Oil, Abandon, Amy Myers, Corruption, Curse, El Gamal, Foreign Policy, Governments, Incentives, Jaffe, Mahmoud, Massive Influx, Middle Eastern Countries, Neighbors, Oil Wealth, Patronage, Receipts, Regional Real Estate, remittances, Sectors, Stock Markets

The resource curse has gone global.
For years, oil wealth was mostly a danger to those, paradoxically, who possessed it. Resource-rich Middle Eastern countries, and their labor-exporting neighbors, failed for decades to invest adequately in their people or to diversify their economies. A massive influx of oil receipts and worker remittances discouraged investment in sectors conducive [...]

Nigeria’s oil curse

Posted by Matt in June 1st, 2009 | no comment

Published in Africa, Oil, African Man, Audience, Blood Diamond, Cinema, Curse, Diamonds, Government Forces, Lagos Nigeria, Laughter, Leonardo Dicaprio, Leonardo Dicaprio Film, Oil Wealth, Old Man, Photos, Rebels, Sierra Leone, Surveys, Vicious Civil War, Violence

The story in photos behind the fight for Nigeria’s oil wealth.
During a scene in the Leonardo DiCaprio film “Blood Diamond,” an elderly African man surveys a village destroyed in Sierra Leone’s vicious civil war and laments the violence tearing his country apart as rebels and government forces fight for control over access to diamonds and [...]

Venezuela’s Hope of More Sway Dims as Riches Dip

Posted by Matt in May 19th, 2009 | no comment

Published in Venezuela, Dims, Energy Industry, Hugo Chavez, Latin-America, Oil Prices, Oil Wealth, Own Energy, Parts America, Political Shift, President Hugo Chavez, Sphere Of Influence, Sway, Venezuela

President Hugo Chávez’s push to extend his sway in Latin America is waning amid low oil prices and disorder in Venezuela’s own energy industry.
In recent years, Mr. Chávez has used his nation’s oil wealth to drive his socialist-inspired agenda at home and draw other countries in the region into his sphere of influence, helping to [...]

A Perfect Storm in Latin America

Posted by Matt in December 9th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Americas, Barack Obama, Communist Rulers, Constitutional Limits, Democratic Transition, Dictatorship, Drug Initiative, Economic Collapse, Financial Crisis, Global Financial Crisis, Hugo Chavez, Latin-America, Municipal Elections, Oil Wealth, Perfect Storm, Plan Colombia, Populists, President Hugo Chavez, Sandinista Party, Strategic Partnership, Venezuelan President Hugo, War On Drugs

RECENT EVENTS SUGGEST that Barack Obama will be facing a veritable perfect storm of challenges in Latin America. The death toll in Mexico’s war on drugs is mounting. The future of Plan Colombia, which began as a U.S.-backed anti-drug initiative, is uncertain. Argentina may be on the verge of yet another economic collapse. The global [...]

Nations with vast oil wealth gaining clout

Posted by Matt in July 17th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Iran, Oil, Russia, Venezuela, Clout, Domestic Dissent, Governments, Hugo Chavez, inflation, Iran, Islamic Rulers, Oil Wealth, President Hugo Chavez, Risk, Russia, Venezuela

Some autocratic governments are challenging U.S. policies and silencing domestic dissent. But their increased spending raises the risk of inflation, which could erode popular support.
But some of the most obvious effects are in countries whose leaders are most hostile to the United States: Venezuela’s populist President Hugo Chavez, Iran’s stringent Islamic rulers and Russia’s growing [...]

Putin’s Labyrinth

Posted by Matt in July 5th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Amazon.Com, Nuclear, Russia, Amazon Asin, Amazon Video, Autocrat, Autocratic Ruler, Boris Yeltsin, Businessweek, Collapse, Dark Heart, Death Of A Nation, Democratic Reforms, Excerpt From, Former Soviet Union, Global Oil Prices, Kgb Officer, Labyrinth, New Russia, Oil Wealth, Penetrating Account, Prosperity Thanks, putin, Putin Presidency, Repressive Rule, Russian Leader, Russian President Boris, Soviet Union, Spike, Steve Levine, Terroris, Violent Deaths, Vladimir Putin

An inside look at the Russian leader’s autocratic regime and his turn away from the West
In 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin named Vladimir Putin, an all-but-unknown former KGB officer, as his successor. Putin imposed a discipline on Russia that had been absent since the Soviet Union’s collapse, and he ushered in the beginnings of prosperity [...]

“Zero Chance” of War Between U.S. and Russia

Posted by Matt in June 28th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Nuclear, Russia, U.S., War, 21st Century, American Flag, Bestselling Author, Confrontation, Contributor, Flag Officers, Handful, Mark Helprin, Militaries, Moseley, Nation State, Oil Wealth, Pacifism, Pundits, Russian View, Secretary Of The Air Force, Soviets, Wall Street Journal, Western Europe, Zero Chance

According to Gen. Michael Moseley, who was recently dismissed from his position as U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, “there is almost zero chance we will fight a nation state” in the 21st century.
While senior American flag officers acknowledge the increasing unlikelihood of great power war in the 21st century, a handful of U.S. think [...]

The bear barrels back

Posted by Matt in June 28th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Oil, Russia, Array, Associate Professor, California Los Angeles, Cold War Conflict, Conflict, Desert Regions, Dominant Position, Economy, Grievances, Havoc, Images, Insurgents, Leads, Michael L Ross, Natural Gas, Oil Wealth, Petrostate, Political Science, Rich Countries, Russia, Saudi-Arabia, Sheiks, University Of California, University Of California Los Angeles, Wealthy Lifestyles

The word “petrostate” typically conjures up images of Middle Eastern sheiks with fantastically wealthy lifestyles ruling politically repressive, oil-rich desert regions. Few realize that Russia actually leads the world in the production and export of natural gas and trails only Saudi Arabia in the production and export of oil. Even fewer know that Russia has [...]

The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution

Posted by Matt in May 31st, 2008 | no comment

Published in Venezuela, Avi Lewis, Back Yard, Bolivarian Revolution, Bush Basher, Carter Center, Castro, Education, Enemy Number One, Health, Hugo Chavez, Immense Oil, Independence Struggle, Iranian Leader, Jennifer Mccoy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mud Hut, Oil Wealth, Onthemap, President Hugo Chavez, Profound Shift, Shantytown, Simon Bolivar, Spain, Venezuela, Venezuelan President Hugo, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Chavez, 53, the country’s first dark-skinned leader, has used Venezuela’s immense oil wealth, says Jones, to improve life for millions of impoverished shantytown residents through health and education programmes such as no other leader ever attempted. For Washington, though, the “Bolivarian revolution” (named after Simon Bolivar, the leader of the independence struggle against Spain) is [...]

What Do We Know about Natural Resources and Civil War?

Posted by Matt in May 30th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Conflict, Oil, 1990s, Agricultural Commodities, Agricultural Goods, Civil War, Civil Wars, Conflicts, Drugs, Econometric Studies, Flood, Gemstones, Grievances, Havoc, Inconsistencies, Insurgents, Likelihood, Missing Data, Natural Resources, Oil Wealth, Qualitative Studies, Relationship, Rich Countries, Separatist Conflict, Theoretical Arguments

Since the late 1990s, there has been a flood of research on natural resources and civil war. This article reviews 14 recent cross-national econometric studies, and many qualitative studies, that cast light on the relationship between natural resources and civil war. It suggests that collectively they imply four underlying regularities: first, oil increases the likelihood [...]