Ownership of Natural Resources

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Ownership of Resources Historically, countries with high levels of natural resources are very prone to authoritarianism, and economic instability. These countries often have a history of civil war, caused by the influence of outside nations. In places like central Africa these traits show themselves conspicuously. In Libya, an exporter of oil, conflict has always been present, and in Rwanda a full blown genocide ensued after years of tension caused by European exploitation. This phenomenon of resource rich countries being exploited by importers, and therefore being in states of disarray is known as the “resource curse”. Having vast natural resources is very profitable; alas most countries with high resources are poverty stricken. This is because the profit goes to oppressive regimes that are supported by prosperous nations, rather than the citizens. It is easy to say the citizens deserve to reap the rewards, but in a world driven by greed and lust for power, it is not easy to think of a plan to amend the issue. Most of the powers in resource cursed nations are corrupt and oppressive. Citizens who do not have the means to fight against violent regimes are forced into lives of poverty and injustice. When a more stable country imports goods from the cursed nations, they often fund these corrupt regimes, leaving the majority of citizens with no revenue whatsoever. Many of the groups labeled “terrorist regimes” by the U.S. government have been funded by prosperous nations who purchase their exports. These importing nations give corrupt regimes the means to control and oppress the citizens of resource cursed nations. One proposed way to slow or stop the resource curse is to have prosperous nations stop their imports from corrupt governments, forcing them to change their ways. Not all nations play by the same rules though, and there is no international property

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