Gov 365N/MES 323K
Questions for Class 10: Feb 14, 2008
If you have not done so yet, please look at this week's syllabus and download the British Petroleum Excel spreadsheet of energy statistics found at http://www.bp.com/productlanding.do?categoryId=6848&contentId=7033471
How much of the world's reserves are found in the MENA? How much oil and natural gas are produced in the region? (Please look at the Practicum section and try to download the BP data - you can also check how much oil is being produced and is held in reserve by the countries you have selected - or are they heavy importers like Turkey - you can also find that out)
1. Discuss the arguments concerning oil and other natural resource "windfalls." To what can they really explain either the economic stagnation or the freedom "deficit" of the MENA region? What are the arguments critically discussed by Ross?
2. What do you think of Ross' evidence (if you have time to look at this optional reading - or at least Herb's rebuttal of it) that substantial oil revenues significantly and adversely affect a country's chances of being democratic?
3. What might be the causal mechanisms explaining oil's allegedly destructive effects on political development?
4. Looking at Algeria's colonial situation, which long predated the discovery of oil in 1956, how much importance would you ascribe to oil in explaining the country's political development? (We will discuss Algeria in greater detail later on in this course, but here is a chance for a quick introduction)
5. What relationships, if any, can you discover between oil revenues and military expenditures?
6. What do you think of "the weapondollar-petrodollar coalition" (if you get a chance to glance at this optional reading - or guess even without reading it)?