Will the recent uprisings in the Middle East ultimately sound the death knell for oil-rich Middle East economies?

University of Chicago professor Gary Becker says, of the change occurring across M.E.N.A. (Middle East and North Africa) countries, "The revolutions and protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and other parts of the M.E.N.A. region are the most important world development in the past 20 years, even though it is still highly uncertain about the types of governments that will emerge, the effects on their economic and political freedoms, and their production of oil. I expect, however, that these economies will become more competitive and less government-controlled, and that world oil prices would tend to be higher in both the short and long runs."

Will the long-term increase in prices expedite the West's efforts to decrease its dependence on Middle East oil?

More at the Becker-Posner blog.