Professor Yates Publishes New Book on the Resource Curse in Africa

Professor Douglas Yates just published his fifth book: The Scramble for African Oil: Oppression, Corruption and War for Control of Africa's Natural Resources. The book was released by London’s Pluto Press on January 17^th, 2012.

The Scramble for African Oil demonstrates how the international demand for oil contributes to the chronic political, economic and security problems plaguing Africa. Dougls Yates approches this topic in ten separate discussions, such as the domination by multinational corporations, anti-corruption initiatives by the international community, censorship of journalists and intellectuals, and oppression by praetorian regimes and terror. The book features country case studies including the Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, Chad, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan.

Professor Michael Watts of UC Berkeley says: “Yates brilliantly scales the walls of the oil fortress in Africa and shines a light into the complex politics - local, national and global - of the oil and gas industry and offers some insight into possible routes out of the swamp of failed oil development."

The Scramble for African Oil is also described by Professor Michael Klare of Hampshire College in Massachusetts, author of Resource Wars, as "Essential reading for anyone seeking an understanding of the 'resource curse', the global exploitation of Africa's resources and the troubled state of African politics. Drawing on a detailed knowledge of the region, Douglas Yates does a remarkable job of exposing the predatory forces responsible for the continuing impoverishment of Africa's oil states - while also celebrating those heroic figures who have resisted the onslaught."

For the past twenty years, Professor Yates has been researching, writing, publishing and doing activism on the politics of the international oil industry, and more specifically on the question of oil dependency on the African continent. He has been a consultant for governmental and non-governmental organizations including the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Catholic Relief Services, and the British Chatham House, among others.

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See The Scramble for African Oil on the Pluto Press website