Life is less easy than might be expected in an oil-rich state with a government that subsidises food, health and education.
Iran, too rich in oil to be starved out, acts as though it is engaged in an international holy war, acting out of motives more ideological than economic.
Saudi's Wahhabist version of Sunni Islam regards the Shia creed as an aberration, and it does not help that the kingdom's Shias happen to be concentrated in the oil-rich Eastern Province.
Zambians fret about an invasion by Chinese, whose numbers in Africa are said to be between 80, 000 to 400, 000, many in oil-rich countries such as Sudan, Nigeria and Angola.
He may not have then predicted the way in which cod liver oil - rich in an essential fatty acid called omega-3 - would be seized from the shelves of health shops and supermarkets by a later generation of parents convinced it would help their child excel at school.
In addition, the battle for control of Kirkuk, a city in an oil-rich region, must still be resolved.
Basra may be part of the country's oil-rich south, but it wallows in its own sewage and trash.
Should China seek conquest in oil-rich Siberia or central Asia, the consequence could be nothing worse than a largish version of the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
"It should be kept firmly in mind that the USSR is a relatively rich country in terms of its oil, gas, gold, diamonds, platinum and other highly marketable commodities, " noted Robinson.
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The rise of the Kurdish role in coalition operations prompted concern in neighboring Turkey, which fears the oil-rich city could be a start for an independent Kurdish state that would give rise to unrest among Turkey's own Kurdish population.
Outside of oil and gas projects and a few specific infrastructure projects (ports like Jebel Ali and airports like Dubai), far less real economic development has happened in the oil-rich parts of the Arab world than would be expected based on their great endowment of human and natural resources.
Autocracies rich in national resources oil, gas, minerals will be able to afford it.
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The dramatic migration pattern can be chalked up to the rapid development of an oil- and gas-rich shale formation in the western part of the state.
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And if he turned out to be Congo-Brazzaville's kingmaker, he would have great influence in an oil-rich country with a major port on the Atlantic coast.
The government would be particularly nervous of a strike amongst oil workers, or amongst the rich merchants, the Bazaaris, whose role in bringing down the Shah is almost legendary.
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