Hot, Flat and Crowded

First Law of Petropolitics:
In oil-rich petrolist states, the price of oil and the pace of freedom tend to move in opposite directions. (The higher the average global crude oil price rises, the more free speech, free press, free and fair elections, freedom of assembly, government transparency, judicial independence, rule of law, and formation of independent political parties and nongovernmental organizations are eroded.)


Second Law of Petropolitics:
Today, you cannot be either an effective foreign policy realist or an effective democracy-promoting idealist without also being an effective energy-saving environmentalist.

Excerpts from the book "Hot, Flat and Crowded", of Michael Friedman.
An interesting book, written about 4 years ago, but predicting most of the energy, demography and economy problems we are dealing with today. Recomended.