The Kingdom Of Gulephistan

Plato’s impression of democracy which was intellectualized around 384 B.C.E is rather different from the present day understanding of democracy and the power of wealth. As an aristocrat himself, according to Plato “When the poor win, the result is a democracy.” (Plato, p.58). In other words, Plato believed that only kings were authorized to rule its society, whereas regular everyday people were perceived as ferocious and unable to govern. Plato’s awareness of democracy was established when he realized ordinary people were not born to lead, that only the elite people had the utmost respect, and right to rule over the lower class. Furthermore, the concept of power and wealth continues to be a crucial stand point in society’s then, and now since the exercise of democracy is known to be a political affair.

In order for Chad’s economy to succeed in the future, major reforms on oil revenue transparency are necessary. As a result of social and political conflicts, Chad has historically been characterized by division and warfare. Since the discovery of oil during the 1960s, these conflicts have only been exacerbated. The oil pipeline that began construction in 1999 as a result of this discovery inadvertently fueled the tension that had been created. The revenues that were generated from the pipeline were not allocated with transparency, which caused dissent on a global scale. This project was supposed to be an example for all oil-dependent developing countries that agreement and control of revenues could help grow a country’s economy. Ultimately, the methods used to control the revenues in Chad have been inefficient, and are in need of further reforms such as improved national dialogue and access to information.

Throughout the 19th and 20th century Iran saw not only the changing of three regimes, but also the coming, and going of classical imperialists in Britain and Russia, but also late comers to the game in the United States. In each instance however, Iran was on a road to appeasement. In some instances such as with the Qajar’s, Iran’s Imperial family was trying to get more money for the betterment of itself. In the event of the Pahlavi’s, Iran was trying to modernize based off of a western model of success. In both instances the carving out of resources was involved in which Iran stood to lose the most by giving up very lucrative state industries to

But Lijphart’s view on making the government a democracy doesn’t go along the lines of democracy because having the government be controlled by elite corporations would create more of a dictatorship. While, having a majority based representation would be sensible if you are trying to form a democracy based government, because the people that would be in control is who the Sudanese has chosen to represent them. On the other hand, Jarstad has a better approach to reforming the government. He plans first to focus on resolving conflict of war and violence by having shared government powers. Which having shared powers is more of a democracy based system of government. The oil pipelines relates to the problem of reforming Sudan’s government because in the article “Shattered Sudan” by Paul Salopek. Salopek states, “The rebels control much of the oil country. The government has access to the sea. They need each other to get rich.”() If the governments agreed to have shared powers North Sudan could give South Sudan the oil so they can export the oil to other countries to receive money to stabilize

Social scientists argue that rentier oil economies have a negative effect on the development of democratic political systems. However, the nature of the political, economic, and social dysfunctions in rentier oil states is being increasingly shaped by the changes in the global climate. Global climate change is expected to have major effects on energy production and consumption, access to food and water, as well as, impact on infrastructure and transportation around the world. These effects will impact international and national security, as well as, the nature of conflict, the political system, and internal and external migration patterns. The effects of global climate change can already be felt in shaping the nature of conflict and its outcomes

After experiencing a series of financial crises across the globe, the number of people living in poverty is overwhelmingly growing, causing vast economic disparities between the rich and the poor. Amazingly even despite all the negative impacts featured in capitalism, it still remains prevalent in political democracy as the dominant economic system. Which makes people inquire, does political democracy still act to foster social and economic equality among all human beings? Although market capitalism is highly praised for promoting economic growth, this paper will argue that capitalism is susceptible to constructing economic violence imposed on the disadvantaged class under a privatized market capitalist government. In the first part of this

South Sudan’s economic development, as measured by the country’s ability to promote economic growth, contrasts drastically with that of its political realm. By and far, South Sudan’s economic growth has seen rapid development, led by the extraction and commercialization of it’s oil reserves. Of key importance, one must note that the intricacies of South Sudan’s ability to extract oil is highly associated with the easing of military tensions. And indeed, with the recent “lifting of threats by the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, to shut down the South Sudan oil flow…in Juba,” (“SOUTH SUDAN: Oil Production Up,” 2013) GDP has increased, indicating a (theoretical) increase in overall standard of living ("Top Growers," 2013.) Although the adoption of foreign technologies and investments has widely been acted as a means of realizing the full gains of oil extraction, the SPLM have proceeded with extreme caution in developing South Sudan’s oil industry (Bream, Boxell & England, 2005). The underlying logical remains that the SPLM recognized corporate exploitation and corruption faced by other developing nations that signed contracts over their natural resources, often leading to increased domestic poverty and foreign ownership of domestic economies. In this sense, the South Sudanese economy should see healthy economic growth, as it controls its own markets and has agency over its own economic growth. However, South Sudan’s economic growth has seen considerable limitations as a

This paper uses data relating to economies that successively discovered oil and have been economically developed amidst the notion that natural resource is a social curse. Drivers to economic growth and implications that accompany discovery of oil to the citizens and countries that depend on these resources will be analysed. Ball J. 2014 points out that the “black gold” has economic benefits to both the governments and citizens and that practicable measures ought to be undertaken to enrich the country in which the resource is discovered.

“Various quantitative studies have drawn a statistical link between the level of natural resource wealth and political regime type” (Michael Ross, 2001, Paul Stevens, 2007). Looking at the bigger picture, the Middle East region has defied two global patterns: it has become wealthier without becoming democratic; and it has become wealthier without making much progress toward gender equality (Michael Ross, 2012). The Middle East is characterized by having less democracy and more oil for decades, than any otherworld region (Michael Ross, 2012). Yet, it is said that oil wealth usually indicates authoritarianism; associated with corruption, economic instability, and conflict and the United Arab Emirates may not be an exception to this. The United

Daron Acemoglu and Terry Lynn Karl accurately predict events in Venezuela, due to the influence of political elitist, who have hindered the state’s progress towards economic advancement. Venezuela’s lack of political stability is defined by a rational actor, due to the inability of elitist groups to invest their wealth in domestic development. According to Acemoglu’s historical approach to assessing the role of institutions in economic development, “some societies have good institutions that encourage investment in machinery, human capital, and better technologies, and, consequently, these countries achieve economic prosperity. However, countries where elitist groups represent the institutions often times block progress towards industrialization

When many people think of the Iranian government they automatically assume that it is a dictatorship. On paper, Iran’s government vaguely resembles a semi-presidential system with the Supreme Leader acting as the head of government and the President acting as the head of state. However, the large part that religion plays in Iran’s government in both an official and unofficial manner leads to the government resembling a theocracy in many aspects. While Iran’s government system is unique unto itself, it could best be described as a semi-presidential theocracy due to the distribution of power within the government and religion’s major role in government (O’Neil, Fields, Share, 522-523). While the Iranian government has tried to modernize its economy by pursuing an export oriented model its efforts has been stymied by trade sanctions from major foreign powers and the United Nations in response to various aggressive acts on the part of Iran that have only recently been lifted. As a result Iran has had little time to see the effects of modernization.

The economy of any civilization is inherently dependent on a well-founded political system. A well-founded political system, on the other hand, largely impacts on the social well-being of the people. In this regard, all these factors, as Abdou & Zaazou (2013) afford, are deeply interrelated in the sense that they converge to provide a favorable environment for socio-economic development. At the start of the Egyptian revolution in 2011, the country was largely plagued by inconsistency as it pertained to the equitable distribution of wealth, and the lack of social justice (Mossallem, 2013). As a matter of fact, Wahba (2011) provides that it was the tyrannical rule of former President Hosni Mubarak that inadvertently led to the resentment expressed by the general public at Tahrir Square. Many commentators on the Egyptian revolution have always attested to the increasing police brutality of civilians, uncontrolled high levels of corruption in government circles, the lack of freedom of speech, and the lack of elections, as some of the intrinsic factors that stimulated the occurrence of the 2011 revolution. While it is important to recognize the role of the revolution in ousting authoritarianism in Egypt, it is also imperative that we recognize the resulting implications, many of which have negatively impacted on the economic state of Egypt, resulting in a raging economic crisis. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2013) provides that economic

Societal unrest in nations under restrictive theocratic reigns is far from new, but in Iran pressure is building even to the point where it is approaching regime change through popular uprising (Zahedi 224). However, Iran is far more than just a country with a regime that is resistant to democracy, as Iran is the only country in the Muslim Middle East with regular elections in the past thirty years (Mahdavi 142). Unfortunately, that does not negate the very real, existing problems as the ruling elite do of course resist expanding political and civil rights in favor of consolidating their own power (Abootalebi 43-4). The ruling elite are, as has happened in countless countries, slowly backing themselves into a corner. As recently as 2010, 80% of the Iranian economy was controlled by the state, with 70% of Iranians under 30 neither owning property nor being middle class (Zahedi). Societal unrest has a tendency to solidify itself with the youth in a country, and those that are no invested in a system that does not benefit them are

On the other hand, Iran, just like Iraq, relies on oil as its economic pillar. The Iranian economy is under the government’s control. Its economy in the private sector is limited to farming, small-scale workshops, a bit of manufacturing and services which leaves a gap for us to explore by setting up a textile facility (Richards and Waterbury, 2014). On its downside, price controls and several distortions in the country undermine growth in its private sector economy. In fact, Iran faces widespread corruption that has raggedly impacted its economy. The unemployment and under-employment level in the country is high and the lack of job opportunities has resulted in numerous young and educated Iranian workforce to seek jobs overseas. (The World Factbook: Iran, 2015)

The majority of Middle Eastern countries have suffered for decades under authoritarian regimes and have not succeeded at reforming their oppressive policies or at democratizing. There have been arguments made stating that it is nearly impossible for the Middle East to democratize and that as a region, democracy will not work. There was also another argument made stating that Islam does not allow for democracy to exist. Both these arguments ignore the history of the region, in which foreign powers have had a lot of influence, and have created the oppressive regimes that are present currently in the region. Foreign factors have played a great role in inhibiting any reforms from taking place in the region. Foreign powers entered the Middle East for its resources, took what they needed from the region then abandoned it. These countries were required to build and strengthen their economies suddenly after years of being controlled by foreign powers. The curse of oil in the Middle East has also played a role in inhibiting political and economic reforms from taking place. Oil rich countries have had significantly less political reforms over the past decades, as seen clearly in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, regional factors such as the Israeli occupation of Palestine, have also inhibited reform in that part of the region. Foreign and regional factors have inhibited political and economic reform in the Middle East, however, each country in the Middle East has had a different history