Thomas Friedman has a terrific new piece out in Foreign Policy magazine, describing something I have discussed earlier, the creepy inverse relationship between rising oil prices and declining freedom.

As oil prices have shot up, many oil producing countries and regions – Venezuela, Iran, Russia – have correspondingly lost their freedoms. Others, like Nigeria and Aceh, have seen a rise of gangs and rebels, making life hell, just as surely as a tyrant.

The article is not out on the Web yet but you can buy the issue, which is loaded with several good articles of great relevance. The newly readable magazine is actually hot.

But Pedro Burelli, a former Venezuelan oil company managing director with vast experience in Russia as well, has some excellent commentary and discussion on this article here.

UPDATE: Sean Guillory has a related discussion, on Iran and Russia, in this item here.

UPDATE: Truck and Barter, a truly terrific economics blog visible for its original topics, has some discussion on the dictatorship in Turkmenistan and its relation to the development of its energy industry. It’s worth a click here.