Editing OPEC (section)

===Conflicts===
OPEC often has difficulty agreeing on policy decisions because its member countries differ widely in their oil export capacities, production costs, reserves, geological features, population, economic development, budgetary situations, and political circumstances.<ref name="MEES" /><ref name="discordant" /> Indeed, over the course of market cycles, oil reserves can themselves become a source of serious conflict, instability and imbalances, in what economists call the "[[Resource curse#Effects|natural resource curse]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Palley |first=Thomas I. |date=December 2003 |title=Lifting the Natural Resource Curse |url=https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/198/40112.html |url-status=live |journal=[[Foreign Service Journal]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520023419/https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/198/40112.html |archive-date=20 May 2016 |access-date=26 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Ross |first=Michael L. |date=May 2015 |title=What Have We Learned about the Resource Curse? |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt8tp5x1hb/qt8tp5x1hb.pdf?t=qay04b |journal=[[Annual Review of Political Science]] |volume=18 |pages=239–259 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-052213-040359 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A further complication is that [[Religious war|religion-linked]] [[List of conflicts in the Middle East|conflicts in the Middle East]] are recurring features of the geopolitical landscape for this oil-rich region.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kessler|first=Oren|author-link=Oren Kessler|date=13 February 2016|title=The Middle East's Conflicts Are About Religion|magazine=[[The National Interest]]|url=http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-middle-easts-conflicts-are-about-religion-15205?page=show|url-status=live|access-date=17 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326124531/http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-middle-easts-conflicts-are-about-religion-15205?page=show|archive-date=26 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Motadel |first=David |date=24 May 2015 |title='Defending the Faith' in the Middle East |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/opinion/sunday/defending-the-faith-in-the-middle-east.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908005002/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/opinion/sunday/defending-the-faith-in-the-middle-east.html |archive-date=8 September 2015}}</ref> Internationally important conflicts in OPEC's history have included the [[Six-Day War]] (1967), [[Yom Kippur War]] (1973), a [[OPEC siege|hostage siege directed by Palestinian militants]] (1975), the [[Iranian Revolution]] (1979), [[Iran–Iraq War]] (1980–1988), [[Gulf War|Iraqi occupation of Kuwait]] (1990–1991), [[September 11 attacks]] (2001), [[History of Iraq (2003–2011)|American occupation of Iraq]] (2003–2011), [[Conflict in the Niger Delta]] (2004–present), [[Arab Spring]] (2010–2012), [[Libyan Crisis]] (2011–present), and international [[Embargo against Iran]] (2012–2016). Although events such as these can temporarily disrupt oil supplies and elevate prices, the frequent disputes and instabilities tend to limit OPEC's long-term cohesion and effectiveness.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2004 |title=Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa |publisher=Gale / Macmillan Reference USA |location=Detroit |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/OPEC.aspx |access-date=10 April 2016 |editor-last=Mattar |editor-first=Philip |editor-link=Philip Mattar |edition=2nd |volume=3 |isbn=978-0-02-865769-1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409042033/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/OPEC.aspx |archive-date=9 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>