In the article Blood Barrels: Why Oil Wealth Fuels Conflict, Michael L. Ross claims that “oil wealth often wreaks havoc to a country’s economy and politics”, and fuels or is intricately involved in the majority of the world’s civil wars. The oil curse, as he calls it, begins with a country’s massive economic growth after the discovery of oil deposits, followed by the local government incurring in copious debts, squandering oil revenues, and, in many occasions, suffering from the Dutch Disease, which creates absolute economic dependability on petroleum. This curse paves the way towards armed conflict, because oil wealth leads to economic unrest that leads to further political instability, often helps to support insurgencies, and encourages separatism of enclosed economic enclaves (Ross). …show more content…
Economic instability is perhaps the category that engulfs most states with petroleum-depending economies, including economic giants like Russia. The downfall of these producers is particularly evident given the current and increasing downfall of oil world prices of more than 50% in the last six months. The increase in domestic supply of oil in North America that rendered the United States less dependable on petroleum imports undermined the influence of exporting countries, particularly the leverage that the once powerful tycoons of the OPEC possessed over international trade. These countries can no longer engage in an embargo like in the 1973, for they are even struggling with enormous deficits to meet their citizens’ basic
The second causal explanation of why oil impedes democracy is the repression effect. It links the authoritarian nature of a state and ways in which it can maintain power through using wealth from its rent to help oppress.
America is dependent on other nations for their ability to create energy. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of oil at 18.49 million barrels of oil per day. And it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future considering the next largest customer of oil only consumes about 60% of what the U.S. does. This makes the U.S. vulnerable to any instability that may arise in the energy industry. In 2011, the world’s top three oil companies were Saudi Aramco (12%), National Iranian Oil Company (5%), and China National Petroleum Corp (4%). The risk associated with these countries being the top oil producers is twofold. One, they are located half way around the world making it an expensive to transport the product logistically to a desired destination. And two, the U.S. has weak, if not contentious,...
The book begins as the Soviet Union’s ability to provide their own oil is cut off by a terrorist attack. Right away it is noted that two very frightening events have just happened. Terrorism, for one, is a major scare tactic that can and does strike fear into millions. This was demonstrated by two suspected attacks in the U.S. recently (Bombing of Flight 800 and the Olympic Park bombing). Secondly, the threat of losing petroleum resources is enough to drive governments to drastic measures. This fact is evident in the world’s participation in the 1991 Gulf War. The leaders of the Soviet Union decided that the only way to prevent the total collapse of their economy and country was to seize the oil rich Middle East.
The knowledge and understanding of blood feuds helps in the develop understanding of the current conflicts in the Middle East. The Middle East conflict started after World War II when the United Nations handed the Jewish people land once owned by the Palestinians. A conflict has occurred with the Palestinians who live together with Israelis that has led to terrorism and tyranny. Israelis believe they must control the Palestinians to stop their terrorism; while the Palestinians use terrorism to seek independence from Israelis. Blood Feuds in Thull are similar to the situation in the Middle East and are violently depicted in Lincoln Keiser's "Friend by Day Enemy By Night."
The setting of this film, The PRIZE: Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power by Daniel Yergin, is from when petroleum industry had became the most popular global energy during the Gilded Age which was around 1800s, when old industries transformed and new industries started to born, to the modern times in 1900s. This film starts with the description of John D. Rockefeller, who made modern American economy and was the symbol of American monopoly, and his Standard Oil Trust Company in the American economy. This film talks and explains not only about oil business as new boom energy along rail road industries in America during the nineteenth century, but also modern economics in the world that was affected by petroleum industries. The tone and mood
This article provides a wealth of information on the hydrocarbon situation in the Arctic. As such, it is expected to play a major role as a source in the final paper. The hydrocarbon aspect of the Arctic situation is a major factor in the foreign policy of every nation involved. Russia currently controls the majority of the potential assets in the region, which demonstrates the advantage Russia has already acquired over other nations in the Arctic Council. The article also continues to reveal that the Arctic could be a potential supplement for oil from a turbulent Middle East.
The United States has had several scares throughout its history in terms of oil, most turn out to be over exaggerations of a small event. However, these scares highlight a massive issue with the U.S. and that issue is the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil. Why does it matter that our oil should come from over seas? In a healthy economy this probably wouldn’t be as relevant, but the U.S.’s economy is not exactly healthy at the moment. There are 4 things that I would like to address: what the problem is, how it affects us, what some solutions are, and what solutions I feel are best.
According to Max Weber in Essays in Sociology, a state can be defined as a “human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” Using this statement and the provided articles, one would conclude that Syria cannot be considered a state. Although they do use physical force, it cannot be considered a legitimate use of physical force within their given territory. The Syrian civil war is one of the controversies that arise in the question of whether they are a state or not according to Weber's theory.
The U.S dependency on foreign oil presents many negative impacts on the nation’s economy. The cost for crude oil represents about 36% of the U.S balance of payment deficit. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). This does not affect directly the price of gas being paid by consumers, but the money paid circulates in the country’s economy and affects areas such as; the job market and production facilities. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). In addition to the rise in prices, another negative aspect of the U.S dependency on foreign crude oil is the risk of supply disruptions caused by political instability of the Middle East. According to Rebecca Lefton and Daniel J. Weiss in the Article “Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit” in 2010, the U.S imported 4 million barrels of oil a day or 1.5 billion barrels per year from “dangerous or unstable” countries. The prices in which these barrels are being purchased at are still very high, and often lead to conflict between the U.S and Middle Eastern countries. Lefton and Weiss also add that the U.S reliance on oil from countries ...
Oil-Led Development: Social, Political, and Economic Consequences. CDDRL Working Paper 80. Robinson, J. A., Torvik, R. & Verdier, T. (2006). Political Foundations of the Resource Curse. Journal of Development Economics, 79, 447-468.
" Oil is the life blood of our modern industrial society. It fuels the machines and lubricates the wheels of the world’s production. But when that vital resource is out of control, it can destroy marine life and devastate the environment and economy of an entire region…. The plain facts are that the technology of oil-- its extraction, its transport, its refinery and use-- has outpaced laws to control that technology and prevent oil from polluting the environment…" (Max, 1969). Oil in its many forms has become one of the necessities of modern industrial life. Under control, and serving its intended purpose, oil is efficient, versatile, and productive. On the other hand, when oil becomes out of control, it can be one of the most devastating substances in the environment. When spilled in water, it spreads for miles around leaving a black memory behind (Stanley, 1969).
Lewicki, R., Saunders, D.M., Barry B., (2010) Negotiation: Readings, Exercises, and Cases. 6th Ed. McGraw-Hill Irwin. New York, NY
In conclusion, OPEC's monopoly of the petroleum industry has been a strong one since the 1960's since its members enjoy economies of scale. Its decisions concerning the output of petrol have always been strong affecting the rest of the world. This monopoly is socially inefficient due to the output and the deadweight loss that results. Interestingly enough, to break this monopoly, the new Iraq has the potential to turn the market power around.
The question to be answered in this paper is to what extent has the resource curse affected the Nigerian economy and government? Resource curse is a term that states the observation that countries that have a plethora of natural resources (e.g. oil, coal, diamonds etc.) usually have unstable political and economic structures (Sachs, 827). Nigeria is categorized as a nation that has succumb to the resource curse as it has an abundance of, and an overdependence on, oil, and a decreasing gross domestic product (GDP) (Samuels, 321-322). Nigeria is known for its specialization and overdependence on oil and according to Ross, nations of such nature tend to have high levels of poverty, large class gaps, weak educational systems, more corruption within the government, and are less likely to become democracies (Ross, 356). The political instability and regime change in Nigeria will be observed in this paper. The resource curse has greatly weakened Nigeria as it has led to the numerous regime changes, the hindering of the nation’s democratization, corruption in the government, as well as, civil conflict.
Omeje, K.. (2006). Oil Conflict and Accumulation Politics in Nigeria. Environmental Change and Security Program Report,(12), 44-49. Retrieved September 22, 2011, from ProQuest Science Journals. (Document ID: 1889169951).