pt. I. Introduction. Oil shocks and the challenge to states ; Natural resources and political instability -- pt. II. Algeria and its discontents. From conquest to independence ; the elaboration of a system ; From boom to bust, and, verging on breakdown ; The persistence of violence and the process of re-equilibration -- pt. III. Comparisons and conclusions. Variations on a theme : comparators in the Muslim world ; Conclusions : oil wealth and the poverty of politics.