IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v39y2011i3p1669-1676.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Oil and resource-backed aggression

Author

Listed:
  • Colgan, Jeff

Abstract

A common misperception about oil politics is that it has a uniform, monolithic effect on policy development. This paper argues that in fact the net political effect of oil varies dramatically depending on the nature of the petrostate. It shows that oil income, when combined with revolutionary governments in petrostates, generates strong incentives for foreign policy aggression and international conflict. The aggressiveness of petro-revolutionary states is shown to have consequences in both military and economic spheres of international relations. Militarily, the aggressiveness of this type of state leads to a high rate of armed conflicts. Economically, the aggressiveness of petro-revolutionary states shapes global oil markets and international economic relations. The argument is tested using statistical analysis of international conflicts and economic sanctions. The policy implications are then considered, focusing on the negative global impacts of dependence on oil consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Colgan, Jeff, 2011. "Oil and resource-backed aggression," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1669-1676, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:39:y:2011:i:3:p:1669-1676
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(10)00942-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dan G. Cox & A. Cooper Drury, 2006. "Democratic Sanctions: Connecting the Democratic Peace and Economic Sanctions," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 43(6), pages 709-722, November.
    2. Drezner,Daniel W., 1999. "The Sanctions Paradox," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521644150.
    3. Drezner,Daniel W., 1999. "The Sanctions Paradox," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521643320.
    4. John M. Piotrowski & David Coady & Justin Tyson & Rolando Ossowski & Robert Gillingham & Shamsuddin Tareq, 2010. "Petroleum Product Subsidies; Costly, Inequitable, and On the Rise," IMF Staff Position Notes 2010/05, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Fearon, James D. & Laitin, David D., 2003. "Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(1), pages 75-90, February.
    6. Fearon, James D., 1995. "Rationalist explanations for war," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(3), pages 379-414, July.
    7. Colgan, Jeff D., 2010. "Oil and Revolutionary Governments: Fuel for International Conflict," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 661-694, October.
    8. El-Gamal,Mahmoud A. & Jaffe,Amy Myers, 2010. "Oil, Dollars, Debt, and Crises," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521720700.
    9. Weeks, Jessica L., 2008. "Autocratic Audience Costs: Regime Type and Signaling Resolve," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 35-64, January.
    10. Darren Filson & Suzanne Werner, 2004. "Bargaining and Fighting: The Impact of Regime Type on War Onset, Duration, and Outcomes," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 296-313, April.
    11. Drezner, Daniel W., 2003. "The Hidden Hand of Economic Coercion," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(3), pages 643-659, July.
    12. Meredith Reid Sarkees & Phil Schafer, 2000. "The Correlates of War Data On War: an Update To 1997," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 18(1), pages 123-144, February.
    13. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. "Greed and grievance in civil war," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 563-595, October.
    14. Putnam, Robert D., 1988. "Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 427-460, July.
    15. Giacomo Chiozza & Henk E. Goemans, 2004. "Avoiding Diversionary Targets," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 41(4), pages 423-443, July.
    16. Sachs, Jeffrey D. & Warner, Andrew M., 2001. "The curse of natural resources," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 827-838, May.
    17. Brown, Stephen P.A. & Huntington, Hillard G., 2010. "Reassessing the Oil Security Premium," RFF Working Paper Series dp-10-05, Resources for the Future.
    18. Tomz, Michael, 2007. "Domestic Audience Costs in International Relations: An Experimental Approach," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(4), pages 821-840, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Puzanova, K. (Пузанова, К.), 2015. "Urban Environment and the Cultural Space of Megapolis: A Comparative Study of Social Barriers of Urban Development [Городская Среда И Культурное Пространство Мегаполиса: Сравнительное Исследование ," Published Papers mn58, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    2. Manal R. Shehabi, 2015. "An Extraordinary Recovery: Kuwait Following the Gulf War," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 15-20, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    3. Brutschin, Elina & Fleig, Andreas, 2016. "Innovation in the energy sector – The role of fossil fuels and developing economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 27-38.
    4. Omar, Ayman & Lambe, Brendan John, 2022. "Crude oil pricing and statecraft: Surprising lessons from US economic sanctions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Omar, Ayman M.A. & Wisniewski, Tomasz Piotr & Nolte, Sandra, 2017. "Diversifying away the risk of war and cross-border political crisis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 494-510.
    6. Helena Pérez Niño & Philippe Le Billon, 2013. "Foreign Aid, Resource Rents and Institution-Building in Mozambique and Angola," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Le Billon, Philippe & Pérez Niño, Helena, 2013. "Foreign Aid, Resource Rents and Institution-Building in Mozambique and Angola," WIDER Working Paper Series 102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kjetil Bjorvatn & Alireza Naghavi, 2010. "Rent seekers in rentier states: When greed brings peace," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 039, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    2. Haggard, Stephan & Noland, Marcus, 2016. "Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea," MPRA Paper 105812, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Matthew Hauenstein, 2020. "The conditional effect of audiences on credibility," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(3), pages 422-436, May.
    4. Amanda Murdie & Dursun Peksen, 2013. "The impact of human rights INGO activities on economic sanctions," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 33-53, March.
    5. Valentin L. Krustev & T. Clifton Morgan, 2011. "Ending Economic Coercion: Domestic Politics and International Bargaining," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 28(4), pages 351-376, September.
    6. Anderton,Charles H. & Carter,John R., 2009. "Principles of Conflict Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521875578, December.
    7. Bjorvatn, Kjetil & Naghavi, Alireza, 2011. "Rent seeking and regime stability in rentier states," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 740-748.
    8. Morgan, T. Clifton & Kobayashi, Yoshiharu, 2021. "Talking to the hand: Bargaining, strategic interaction, and economic sanctions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    9. Jordan Jenna, 2012. "Review of Overcoming Evil," New Global Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-5, May.
    10. Coyne,Christopher J., 2020. "Defense, Peace, and War Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108724036.
    11. Sini, Snow & Abdul-Rahim, A.S. & Sulaiman, Chindo, 2021. "Does natural resource influence conflict in Africa? Evidence from panel nonlinear relationship," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    12. Blouin, Max & Pallage, Stéphane, 2016. "Warlords, famine and food aid: Who fights, who starves?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 18-38.
    13. Elisabeth Gilmore & Nils Petter Gleditsch & Päivi Lujala & Jan Ketil Rod, 2005. "Conflict Diamonds: A New Dataset," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 22(3), pages 257-272, July.
    14. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    15. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2017. "A critical survey of the resource curse literature through the appropriability lens," CEPN Working Papers hal-01583559, HAL.
    16. Mehlum, Halvor & Ove Moene, Karl, 2011. "Aggressive elites and vulnerable entrepreneurs - trust and cooperation in the shadow of conflict," Memorandum 16/2010, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    17. Christopher J. Coyne & Rachel L. Mathers, 2011. "Introduction," Chapters, in: Christopher J. Coyne & Rachel L. Mathers (ed.), The Handbook on the Political Economy of War, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Nils B. Weidmann, 2009. "Geography as Motivation and Opportunity," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 53(4), pages 526-543, August.
    19. Idean Salehyan, 2010. "The Delegation of War to Rebel Organizations," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 54(3), pages 493-515, June.
    20. William Seitz & Alberto Zazzaro, 2020. "Sanctions and public opinion: The case of the Russia-Ukraine gas disputes," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 817-843, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:39:y:2011:i:3:p:1669-1676. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.