The 'resource curse' of sitting on top of vast reserves of cheap (-to-extract) oil doesn't help. A lot of war-torn African countries have a similar problem - there are plenty of unfussy buyers offering enough money to a) be worth killing for and b) maintain a large system of patronage.
It's impossible to overstate this problem. Plentiful oil (or diamonds, or whatever) means 15% of the population can control the other 85% because they have modern weaponry and the money to buy off potential threats.
If your country doesn't have easily convertable (to cash) resources, you have to give the average guy some incentive to support you.
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The 'resource curse' of sitting on top of vast reserves of cheap (-to-extract) oil doesn't help. A lot of war-torn African countries have a similar problem - there are plenty of unfussy buyers offering enough money to a) be worth killing for and b) maintain a large system of patronage.
It's impossible to overstate this problem. Plentiful oil (or diamonds, or whatever) means 15% of the population can control the other 85% because they have modern weaponry and the money to buy off potential threats.
If your country doesn't have easily convertable (to cash) resources, you have to give the average guy some incentive to support you.