Territory, Sovereignty, and Rebel Governance of Oil in the Arab Uprisings

Ariel Ahram, Virginia Tech

This paper explores the intersection of oil, territory, and rebellion during the Arab uprisings of the 2010s and 2020s. Analyzing cases in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Morocco, it identifies how control over oil influenced trajectories of conflicts, governance structures, and global hydrocarbon trading. The study deploys a typology of rebel oil governance—illicit, remote, and consolidated—and shows how each reflect distinct territorial and legal strategies. These contestations over resources redefined state sovereignty, disrupted global oil markets, and entrenched segmented patterns of governance and authority across the Middle East and North Africa. The paper contributes to the literature on rebel governance, political ecology, and the political geography of resources, emphasizing the interplay between de facto control and de jure sovereignty in shaping civil war economies and international trade networks. These findings highlight the geopolitical implications of resource-driven conflicts and the enduring influence of hydrocarbons in global and regional power dynamics.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 116. Politics of the Middle East