Wakanda and the Resource Curse
Wakanda and the Resource Curse: Wakanda’s prosperity is based on its possession of vibranium, a stable transuranic elements with unique And extraordinary chemical properties. Yet those of us who have studied the history of emerging markets with powerful natural resource advantages would fear for the present and future of an emerging market country that based its prosperity on such a road so very vulnerable to the “resource curse“.
The closest analog which seem to be the oil states. But Wakanda is very different from Qatar, or Venezuela, or any of the other countries that have received the ambiguous possession of extremely valuable industrial resources—with the possible exceptions of Botswana and Norway.
Standard histories attribute Wakanda’s success to the wisdom of the ruling dynasty, aided by the vibranium-boosted biotechnology of the heart-shaped herb, which produces what propagandists for the ruling dynasty claim to be the extraordinary powers and wisdom of the “Black Panther”.
Viewing the destinies of nations as determined by their rulers as if they were superheroes is a historical fashion that we have long outgrown. Serious students of history, international relations, and political economy must look for the sources of the divergent Wakandan path elsewhere, in opportunities open door for closed by social structure. Such investigations...
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