Are oil-rich countries prone to war? And, if so, why? There is a widely held belief that contemporary wars are motivated by the desire of great powers like the United States or Russia to control precious oil resources and to ensure energy security.
This book argues that the main reason why oil-rich countries are prone to war is because of the character of their society and economy. Sectarian groups compete for access to oil resources and finance their military adventures through smuggling oil, kidnapping oil executives, or blowing up pipelines. Outside intervention only makes things worse. The use of conventional military force as in Iraq can bring neither stability nor security of supply.
This book examines the relationship between oil and war in six different regions: Angola, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Russia. Each country has substantial oil reserves, and has a long history of conflict. The contributors assess what part oil plays in causing, aggravating or mitigating war in each region and how this relation has altered with the changing nature of war. It offers a novel conceptual approach bringing together Kaldor’s work on ‘new wars’ and Karl’s work on the petro-state.
Table of Content
Introduction
1. Nigeria: Political Violence, Governance and Corporate Responsibility in a Petro-State, by Robin Luckham and Okey Ibeanu
2. Drilling in Deep Water: Oil, Business and War in Angola, by Phillippe Le Billon
3. Greed and Grievance in Chechnya, by Yahia Said
4. Oil and Conflict: The Case of Nagorno Karabakh, by Mary Kaldor
5. The Conflict in Aceh: Struggle Over Oil?, by Kirsten E. Schulze
6. Oil and Armed Conflict in Casanare, Colombia: Complex Contexts and Contingent Moments, by Jenny Pearce
Conclusions
Index
About the author
Yahia Said is visiting Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and the World Bank economist for Iraq. He is co-editor of Oil Wars (Pluto, 2008).
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