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Bolivia on the Brink By Eduardo A. Gamarra Council Special Report February 2007 Bolivias Turmoil Analysis Brief February 21, 2007 A Future Vision For Energy By Christine Todd Whitman , President, The Whitman Strategy Group Transcript May 4, 2011 Disrupt the G20 Summit With This Technology By Amity Shlaes, Senior Fellow for Economic History Op-Ed June 23, 2010 WSJ: Cramped on Land, Big Oil Bets at Sea By Ben Casselman and Guy Chazan Must Read January 5, 2010
Means, and What Comes Next This collection sets the intellectual stage for understanding the revolutions in the Middle East and includes seminal pieces from Foreign Affairs, ForeignAffairs.com, and CFR.org as well as speeches and primary source documents. Available in Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, iBook,
1. Introduction 2. Why did Morales nationalize Bolivias hydrocarbon industry? 3. How will the nationalization plan work? 4. Who stands to lose from the nationalization policy? 5. What are the reactions to Morales plan? 6. Is Bolivias nationalization testing regional alliances? 7. What is Morales relationship with Chvez? 8. What is the U.S. role in Bolivia and in the region?
Introduction
On his hundredth day in office, Bolivian President Evo Morales moved to nationalize his nation's oil and gas reserves, ordering the military to occupy Bolivia's gas fields and giving foreign investors a six-month deadline to comply with demands or leave. The May 1 directive set off tensions in the region and beyond, particularly for foreign investors in Brazil, Spain, and Argentina. Morales' nationalization agenda has been described as another chapter in Latin America's turn to the left, and fears are rising that the Bolivian leader has fallen into the fold of Venezuela's Hugo Chvez and Cuba's Fidel Castro. But some experts emphasize there may be more infighting than cohesion overall in the region.
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Bolivia, Economics, Energy
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Academic Module: Bolivia on the Brink
Gayle Lemmon tells the remarkable story of a young entrepreneur whose business created jobs and hope for women in her Kabul, Afghanistan, neighborhood during the Taliban years.
Bolivia's Nationalization of Oil and Gas - Council on Foreign Relations of nationalizing, among other sectors of the economy, the gas and oil industries with the cooperation of foreign investors. Experts say that, given such promises, the nationalization was no surprise. But Peter DeShazo, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Americas Program, says the move to occupy the gas fields with military forces lent a dramatic effect. "The confrontational nature of his move was certainly intended to get people's attention," he says, adding that Morales may be looking to garner votes in July elections for a constituent assembly that will redraft Bolivia's constitution. Nouriel Roubini, a professor of economics and international business at New York University, says one explanation for nationalization is ill will over encroachment on Bolivia's territory by its neighbors. Since gaining independence in 1825, the Andean nation lost ocean access to Chile, as well as land to Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. "There is this kind of historical resentment," Roubini says, adding that Bolivians "are giving a slap in the face to Brazilians and Spaniards." Morales echoed this sentiment at a May 11 summit of Latin American and European leaders, where he reaffirmed his energynationalization plans and signaled his government would seize large land holdings. Experts say this could also affect Brazil, whose farmers have major land holdings in Bolivia. In spite of having the region's second largest natural-gas reserves after Venezuela, Bolivia is among Latin America's poorest nations. The landlocked country has also been marked by political instability; six presidents have held office in as many years, and one of them, Gonzalo "Goni" Snchez de Lozada, was forced to resign in 2003 after protests against plans to export Bolivian gas turned violent. Among the free trader's opponents was Morales, who said foreign investors received too much in gas-sale profits based on the hydrocarbons law in place at the time.
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Adam Segal offers a contrarian analysis of how the United States can succeed in the technological race with Asia.
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Bolivia's Nationalization of Oil and Gas - Council on Foreign Relations threats and frozen investments. Experts say Bolivia needs investors such as Petrobras, which accounts for roughly 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 24 percent of its tax revenue. John Williamson, senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics, says Bolivia may see short-term gains but in the long term, it's going to lead to less foreign investment. He also cautions that Morales' move could cause divisions in the region.
Bolivia's Nationalization of Oil and Gas - Council on Foreign Relations Ambassador Manuel Rocha urged Bolivians not to vote for Morales, who then surged in the polls and almost defeated Snchez. The problem, Sweig says, "is when we say 'democracy,' Latin Americans hear 'imperialism.'" Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
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