NY Times has an article that illustrates the perils of oil dependence for countries other than the US, for a change:
3 Oil-Rich Countries Face a Reckoning - [NY Times]
The article examines the potential crises in Venezuela, Iran, and Russia, all three of which were empowered by the recent climb in oil prices and are now subsequently threatened by the more recent decline in oil prices. All three have been increasingly hostile toward the West, especially Chavez. It will be interesting to see what effect the decline in oil prices has on their ambitions.
Chavez has built a cult of personality based on his antogonizing of the United States. Some of his views, despite his grandstanding style, are justifiable, given our history of meddling in the region (all the more reason for us to pull out and stop meddling). But his economic policies and socialist tendencies are doomed to fail. The article cites their inflation rate of 36%, and this will only increase. What will his supporters say when the oil money dries up?
