Oil and gas are democracy’s worst enemies, according to Steven Fish, a comparative political scientist, professor at UC Berkeley.

Speaking during a roundtable discussion in Caucasus Institute, prof. Fish noted that democracy processes in Russia failed despite all prerequisites for success, first of all well-educated population.

One of the reasons for this, he said, is the fact that the Russian economy is based of hydrocarbon, which makes 70% of the country’s export.

“Out of all oil-exporting countries, Norway is the only democratic one, as democracy had been established before oil was found there,” prof. Fish said.