Opening lines from a documentary:

It was a time of great unrest.
Seeds of rebellion and conflict are sprouting everywhere.
Rulers cling to their thrones of power.
While people in the streets shout jihad, blow themselves up with suicide bombs, and demand a regime change.
For years it has been the epicenter of conflict.
For years, factions have fought for control of a vital resource.
For years, the environment has paid a price.
Paid a price while leaders to gain control of the resource and the power that comes with it.

Ripped from today's headlines. 

But Susan Sarandon was introducing something else.

This epicenter is Arakis, Dune, home of spice, the most treasured resource in the universe, and the setting for SciFi channel's epic miniseries, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.

So, if the vital resource is oil...

Literary classics make sense in any era.