Unlike Afghanistan, which has opium (and Iraq which has oil), the Horn has little of economic value to fuel a war: its frontline, after all, can barely keep a cow alive.

ECONOMIST: The Horn of Africa

The thirst for tangible assets in time of war and uncertainty could fuel bidding at two upcoming jewelry auctions in New York.

FORBES: Rock Stars

Just over half say that the Bush administration and the war in Iraq are major causes of high fuel prices.

CNN: GOP lawmakers want special session on energy crisis

"With fuel prices and the fare environment the way it is, you have a war of attrition, " moans Potter.

FORBES: Frontier Airlines Braces For Turbulence

Recessions in the mid Seventies, after the first Gulf War and even the Great Recession of late were all attributed to rising fuel costs.

FORBES: Oil Spikes, Double Dips And Dilapidated Dollars

Instead, it was established in response to the Saudi oil embargo in the fall of 1973 (to punish us for our support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War), an embargo that was blamed for fuel shortages and gas lines.

FORBES: Should We Use The Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

War in Iraq, destabilization from Turkey, unquenchable thirst for energy in Asia, millions of fuel-slurping SUVs still cruising American highways.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Most of its fuel and much of its grain comes through Georgia's Black Sea ports, which have been paralysed by the war.

ECONOMIST: A large NATO country ponders a bigger role in the Caucasus