January 1, 2008 By James Kimer

Oil as the Pillar of Autocracy

From Fouad Ajami in U.S. News and World Report:

Beyond the great economic questions posed by this transfer of wealth lies a political matter of increasing importance: the connection between petroleum and autocracy. Oil is the dictators’ dream and their weapon, their means of escape from accountability and from the limits societies have drawn for their rulers. …