If "living in interesting times" is a common curse, I'd say "living in an oil-rich country" is yet another. Just look at the smaller countries in trouble around the world (the ones that are not great powers), or the ones that are totally fucked up by shitty governments, and you'd see the pattern. You won't see a civil war in Tuvalu, or Mongolia, or Cabo Verde any time soon, and for a reason.