The Resource Curse: Oil, Power, and Conflict in the Global South

Why do countries rich in oil so often experience political instability and human rights conflict?

?In this lecture, Mona Shomali explores the idea of the “resource curse”??"a theory in international development that helps explain why vast natural wealth can fuel inequality, violence, and environmental harm rather than prosperity.

?Drawing on real-world case studies from Iran, Ecuador, and Nigeria, Shomali takes us inside oil conflicts in the Global South, examining how extraction, governance, and global power intersect with Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and sovereignty.

?Grounded in her work with Indigenous communities and international human rights cases, this talk offers a deeper understanding of how resource extraction shapes lives on the ground??"and what these struggles reveal about global systems of power, profit, and resistance.