Afghanistan and the “Resource Curse”

The U.S. government recently announced that geologists had discovered almost $1 trillion of mineral resources in Afghanistan. Will its newfound wealth promote economic growth and political stability, or will it fuel more corruption and violence, while doing little to improve the lives of everyday Afghans? Drawing upon analogous research on the impact of modern-day resource booms in Mexico on democracy and prosperity, Social Science History Program director Steve Haber and his protégé Victor Menaldo, a University of Washington political science professor, explore this question in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.