Timothy Lavin , Columnist

Oil And Democracy, Continued: Echoes

May 27, 2011 at 10:33 PM UTC

Timothy Lavin is a member of the editorial board covering technology and politics. Previously, he was a senior editor at the Atlantic.

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Most of the world's oil is produced in states that are undemocratic. The U.S., Canada and Norway are the exceptions (see chart).

So does oil inhibit democracy? This is perhaps the central question of our discussion this week about the historical lessons the Arab Spring nations should pay attention to.