The discovery and extraction of oil in third world countries has been known to fuel conflicts in the past. Prof Michael Klare...argues that the likelihood of internal conflicts is set to grow in tandem with the steady rise of world energy prices. The higher the price of petroleum, the greater the potential to obtain huge profits from the control of a nation’s oil exports and so the greater the incentive to seize power by whatever means in such states or, for those already in power, greater is the incentive to prevent their loss of political power and control to a rival party, militia or faction. The history of oil has significantly been one of violent conflict, authoritarian repression, and neo-imperialistic interventionism, hence the term oil curse. A new era of upheavals in the Great Lakes region, where oil has been found in huge amounts (South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania) is in high gear, driven and shaped by a number of factors.