Understanding the ongoing conflict in the Central African Republic is essential to assessing the Kimberley Process, a global diamond certification scheme that originated in 2003 to stop the trade in conflict diamonds. More evident than in any other country, diamonds have contributed to the conflict in the Central African Republic after the Kimberley Process was implemented. Thus, examining the influence of the Kimberley Process on the conflict in the Central African Republic is crucial to understanding whether the agreement is useful in its original goal of preventing conflict diamonds from entering the market. The existence of private diamond companies with preferences that are in line with Kimberley Process regulations are a necessary condition for Kimberley Process compliance. Unlike most diamond-producing states, large diamond mining companies have not been present in the Central African Republic. Thus compliance with the Kimberley Process has been minimal, even in comparison to other similar African states. The lack of feasibility in enforcing the monolithic regulatory framework brought about by the Kimberley Process in the Central African Republic demonstrates that the Kimberley Process is ill-suited to preventing diamonds from funding conflict in this case.

This concluding chapter discusses the scholarly and policy implications of the book’s findings. Leaders that pursue predatory and opportunistic behavior are not as likely to fail as the conventional wisdom suggests; these leaders have little option to survive in power other than by seizing assets instead of building growth-enhancing institutions. This chapter then provides a policy roadmap to how extractive resources will be managed in the future for oil and for commodities that have thus far avoided nationalization. The examination of the possibility of future oil nationalizations in Lebanon and Guyana will be particularly relevant for states considering their ownership options in light of new discoveries. Rare-earth minerals and advanced materials involved in the production of renewable energy facilities and energy storage--namely cobalt, lithium, and palladium--have largely been produced by private firms. If and when the production of these materials is nationalized, it will have profound impacts not only on the leaders of producing countries, but also on the world that relies upon these resources to sustain the coming industrial revolution in clean energy.

This chapter tests the first implication of the model: whether private entrepreneurs believe that being a legislator makes their property more secure. It discusses the definitions of the term "expropriation," a central concept of the book. Using interview evidence I establish that private entrepreneurs perceive predation as a major problem running a business in China and that securing property is a main motivation for them to seek office. I use a small sample of legislative and policy proposals from entrepreneur-legislators and show that they seldom formally discuss property rights issue.