Violence de la rente pétrolière

During the 1970s, thanks to their oil "rents", Algeria, Libya and Iraq seemed to be engaged in an accelerated modernization process. Oil was the blessing that allowed these states to "catch up" economically. Massive revenues turned Algeria into the "Mediterranean dragon," Libya into an “emirate,” and Iraq into the preeminent “rising military power” of the Arab world. From a political perspective, the progressive socialism of these countries would seem to have engendered profound, promising change: increased rights for women, positive urbanization, and improved education.

But a few decades later, the disillusion is cruel. This sense of wealth has lead these countries down the path to political, economic, and military impasses with disastrous consequences for their populations, who once more yearn to leave. How did this happen?
 

Luis Martinez holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (IEP, 1996) and is a researcher at CERI in Paris. He is the author of The Algerian Civil War (Hurst, 2000), The Enigma of islamist violence, A. Blom, L. Bucaille, L. Martinez (eds) (Hurst, 2007) and The Libyan Paradox. (Hurst, 2007).