Nationalising Yukos would give Russia the strategic leverage in oil that it enjoys in gas, which the state-controlled monopoly Gazprom sells to nearly all of Russia's neighbours and most of Europe.

ECONOMIST: Putin versus the oligarchs

To keep Petrobras from taking on the negative attributes of a state-controlled monopoly, the government wants a state-owned entity other than Petrobras to govern the energy contracts and manage the oil revenues.

FORBES: Brazil: Strategic Planning For Pre-Salt

Mr. Arafat, his wife and a coterie of close advisors, were personally pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars each year in tax transfers and kickbacks from state-controlled monopoly import contracts on virtually every basic commodity needed in Gaza and the West Bank.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Don't Throw Good Money After Bad in the Middle East