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122. Simmering Unrest and Succession Challenges in Oman
- Author:
- Marc Valeri
- Publication Date:
- 01-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The sultan of Oman traveled to Germany to receive medical care in July 2014. His prolonged stay since then has revived concerns across Omani society about the future of the country without the “father of the nation.” A taped, four-minute television address in early November by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said—who looked emaciated and expressed regret that he was unable to return home for National Day celebrations later in the month—failed to silence rumors of cancer that have been circulating in the Gulf since he left the country. The anxiety about the health of the seventy-four-year-old ruler, who has no designated heir, came as the supposed “sleepy sultanate,” long thought to be a model of stability, was affected by the winds of protest blowing across the region. In 2011 and 2012, the sultanate of Oman experienced its widest popular protests since the 1970s and the end of the Dhofar war, in which the southern region rose up against Qaboos's father, who then ruled the country.
- Topic:
- Islam, Oil, Governance, and Popular Revolt
- Political Geography:
- Arabia and Germany
123. Spreading Oil, Spreading Conflict?
- Author:
- Kathrin Keil
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The International Spectator
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- In order to assess whether the Arctic region is evolving into a region of cooperation or one of confrontation, a thorough understanding of the existing (and evolving) bilateral, regional and international institutional frameworks with relevant regulations for the Arctic and their adequacy for solving possible controversies is paramount. Disputes can flare up over various issues, as the Arctic has aptly demonstrated in recent years. Whether these disputes erupt into conflict or are handled cooperatively depends significantly on the rules and regulations that parties have put in place. While most of the literature deals with resource ownership, it is argued here that the more significant potential sources of controversy between Arctic states are issues of responsibility, liability, precaution and preparedness concerning possible transboundary environmental risks and dangers and, generally, protection of the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Oil
- Political Geography:
- Arctic
124. Electoral Rentierism? The Cross-National and Subnational Effect of Oil on Electoral Competitiveness in Multiparty Autocracies
- Author:
- Matthias Basedau and Michael Wahman
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- Abstract:
- Building on theoretical insights from research on the rentier state and the “resource curse,” several studies have supported the argument that oil hinders democracy. However, previous research on the rentier state has neglected the global surge of multiparty autocracies or “electoral authoritarian” regimes since the end of the Cold War. No systematic study has been carried out on the question of whether or not and how oil affects electoral contests in nondemocratic regimes. In this paper we contribute to filling this gap by combing the literature on multiparty autocracy and the political economy of the rentier state. As oil production creates substantial, nontransparent revenue streams to national and subnational governments, we hypothesize that oil production has a negative effect on electoral competitiveness, both cross‐ and subnationally, in multiparty autocracies. Consequently, the democratic “resource curse” emphasized in earlier work on the rentier state is likely to persist even after the introduction of multipartyism in cases where oil production predates democratic institutions. The paper tests the hypothesis cross‐nationally, using data on all multiparty elections held in the world in the period 1975–2010, and subnationally, using a new data set on subnational election results and oil production in Nigeria. Our results confirm that oil impedes electoral competitiveness, both cross‐ and subnationally, in multiparty autocracies.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Democratization, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
125. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: The Political Culture Of Corruption And Cleanups In Nigeria
- Author:
- Daniel Agbiboa
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- In light of its pervasiveness, tackling corruption has become a priority on the Nigerian political agenda at local and national levels. This article critically examines the evolution of corruption in Nigeria, Africa's most populous and oil-rich country. Specifically, the article examines how the corrupt practices of Nigeria's ruling cabal have stunted the growth of a country with huge potential. The article contributes to the existing body of literature on corruption by explaining when, how and why corruption became entrenched in the Nigerian polity. In conclusion the article makes some prospective recommendations that may advance the anti-corruption campaign in Nigeria.
- Topic:
- Oil
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
126. Sandipani Dash, Sudan's Oil Diplomacy, 1991-2003
- Author:
- Dinoj K. Upadhyay
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- As world is moving fast on swirling waves of globalization and, as the new economies of Asia have witnessed unprecedented economic growth, global competition for natural resources has entered into new phase of international politics. Although 'scramble for natural resources' has always been a defining theme of international economic structures, the rise of Asian economies and multinational companies has metamorphosed natural resources politics in the current discourse on world affairs. The African continent which has huge reserves of natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals, has acquired a renewed significance in world politics. Analysts fear that quest for natural resources can lead to potential new conflicts among nations. Today, new discoveries of coal, oil and gas across Africa generate great academic interest to predict how these resources will transform the course of global energy markets and development in those countries. In this context, Sandipani Dash, in his book Sudan's Oil Diplomacy, 1991-2003, has attempted to analyze oil diplomacy of an erstwhile undivided Sudan in the larger context of natural resource politics in Africa. The book aims to examine the importance of Sudan's oil reserve in the world oil regime, its oil production linkage with the Western and Asian countries, and its diversified approach to transnational oil production with Asian orientation.
- Topic:
- Economics and Oil
- Political Geography:
- Sudan
127. Foreign investments in Uganda's oil sector: linkages and issues for the local economy
- Author:
- Anne Mette Kjær
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The Ugandan economy resembles many other economies in sub-Saharan Africa in that it has a large subsistence sector, relies on a few primary commodities for export and depends on aid to finance its public services. Oil and minerals have so far not been important to the economy. However, this might change as an estimated 3.5 billion barrel oil reservoir has been discovered in Uganda's Western and Northwestern Albertine Graben. Minerals have also been found and are being sold off as concessions. If oil revenues start to be mobilized as currently planned (2016-17), significant changes in not only government finance but also in the governments' relationships with donors and in state–society relations are likely to occur. The consequences for local communities and the environment are also likely to be significant.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Oil, Natural Resources, Foreign Aid, Fragile/Failed State, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Uganda and Africa
128. A High-Carbon Partnership? Chinese-Latin American Relations in a Carbon-Constrained World
- Author:
- Timmons Roberts and Guy Edwards
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- China's rapidly increasing investment, trade and loans in Latin America may be entrenching high-carbon development pathways in the region, a trend scarcely mentioned in policy circles. High-carbon activities include the extraction of fossil fuels and other natural resources, expansion of large-scale agriculture and the energy-intensive stages of processing natural resources into intermediate goods. This paper addresses three examples, including Chinese investments in Venezuela's oil sector and a Costa Rican oil refinery, and Chinese investment in and purchases of Brazilian soybeans. We pose the question of whether there is a tie between China's role in opening up vast resources in Latin America and the way those nations make national climate policy and how they behave at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations. We focus on the period between the 2009 Copenhagen round of negotiations and the run-up to the Paris negotiations scheduled for 2015, when the UNFCCC will attempt to finalize a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, International Trade and Finance, Oil, Natural Resources, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- China and Latin America
129. The Politics of Pipelines
- Author:
- Shefga Siegel
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Americas Quarterly
- Institution:
- Council of the Americas
- Abstract:
- Over the past decade, prices of major commodities (e.g., oil, coal, copper, gold, silver, tin, and iron ore) have skyrocketed, igniting a global boom in natural resources. Before this fairly recent development, a common assumption was that the world was entering a period of resource scarcity, most notably for oil, which would accelerate an eventual transition to renewable energy and weaken the reliance on carbon-loaded fossil fuels. While popular perceptions of oil and gas extraction are marked by explosive gushers needing only to be pumped—think of the 2007 film There Will Be Blood—deposits of commonly used resources are deeper, more remote, require more mining and processing, are more energy- and water-intensive, and more toxic than such images represent.
- Topic:
- Environment, Oil, and Natural Resources
130. Eight Popular ( Misleading) Myths About Energy And Green Technology
- Author:
- Ramon Espinasa
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Americas Quarterly
- Institution:
- Council of the Americas
- Abstract:
- Whether the issue is global warming, carbon footprints, energy security, or shale oil, energy is very much front and center in the region's public policy agenda. Nevertheless, discussion has been riddled with suspicions, accusations and wishful thinking on all sides. Here are some of the biggest myths and fallacies to look out for.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy and Oil