Season 2, Episode 18

Leif Wenar on Unity and the Resource Curse

On this episode of Free Range, host Mike Livermore is joined by Leif Wenar, professor of philosophy at Stanford University and author of Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules that Run the World.

Episode is an appropriate teaching tool for but not limited to the following topics & courses:  philosophy, international relations, comparative government

Discussion Questions

  • What are some of the major problems caused by the “natural resource curse” that Leif Wenar discusses? How does the resource curse lead to suffering and conflict around the world?
  • How does Wenar argue that consumers and governments in wealthy nations like the U.S. are implicated in the resource curse and conflicts caused by it? What ethical arguments does he make?
  • Wenar proposes policies like “Clean Trade” laws that would stop trade with authoritarian regimes. What are some potential benefits and drawbacks of an approach like this? How feasible is it?
  • What is Wenar’s philosophical theory of “unity” and how does he relate it to problems like the resource curse? Do you find his arguments for “unity” as the basis of value compelling?
  • How convincing did you find Wenar’s more optimistic take that humanity is becoming more unified over time despite conflict and division? Does his philosophical perspective offer hope for addressing global problems like the resource curse?

Additional Readings