Hacker News Reader

I'd argue that these regions only became politically volatile because oil was found there.

Than we can rephrase original claim to: "oil leads to geopolitical instability because it's only found in economically viable deposits in very specific areas of the planet."

This create strong asymmetries and strong incentives to project power.

It's not though, not in terms of oil production or reserves. Extractable resources can exacerbate instability by providing funding to warring groups and giving a reason for outside entities to interfere but none of this is even remotely set in stone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_proven_oi...

Yes, I mean, just look at Norway! Or the USA! Or Saudi Arabia! All constantly on the brink of political collapse!

Saudi Arabia had to crank up the execution rate quite a bit to keep opposition in check recently. That only can work so long.

"Owning the wrong books, posting a critical tweet, speaking to a journalist or disagreeing with the Crown Prince can earn you a death sentence." (https://reprieve.org/uk/2024/01/02/saudi-arabia-executed-at-...)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com