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Transport
Kazakhstan accelerating efforts to expand the strategic Middle Corridor
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which is frequently referred to as the Middle Corridor, is a multilateral institutional development project linking the containerized rail...
Minerals, Mining and Rare Earths
IEA warns transitions bring new risks to energy security
Clean technology and critical mineral supply chains are highly geographically concentrated, the International Energy Agency warned in its World Energy Outlook for 2023 and...
Columns
After offshore gas pipe suspected sabotage, Finland switches to LNG
Finland has switched to liquified natural gas supplies to cover the country’s needs following a decision on October 8 to shut down the Balticconnector...
United Nations
UN General Assembly 2023: More progress urgently needed on Sustainable Development Goals
The 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) kicked off in New York as planned on September 18, with global attention focused on the so-called...
Iran
Domestic operatives carried out cyberattacks on Iranian regime websites
Treadstone 71, a provider of cyber security consulting and training services, has published a new report on highly-publicized breaches of Iranian government websites and...
Armenia
With Armenia defeated tensions between Yerevan and Russia reach a turning point
Relations between Armenia and its traditional strategic partner Russia are deteriorating fast. With Yerevan's fundamental defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh - the 30-year-old Moscow-backed separatist region...
Africa
Nairobi Declaration calls for global tax on fossil fuel trade, maritime transport, aviation
As the curtains came down at the Africa Climate Summit (ACS23), heads of state and government adopted the Nairobi Declaration, calling on world leaders...
The Foreign Desk
The whims of dictators
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death surprised no one when news broke that he was a passenger on a plane that had crashed while on its way...
Global Energy Insider
Mongolia to expand its economic and trade partnerships
Mongolia, the landlocked mineral-rich country bordered by Russia and China - the world's two preeminent authoritarian-run nations, is looking to expand its economic, trade,...
Zero Tolerance
Zelensky Athens visit eclipses Mitsotakis’ informal Western Balkans Summit
Receiving a full house of Western Balkan leaders, as well as several EU luminaries, in Athens on an evening when much of northern Greece...
EU Institutions
Latest gambit in North Macedonia seeks to break impasse with Bulgaria
At the end of July, the largest ethnic Albanian political party in North Macedonia, the Democratic Union for Integration, presented an innovative proposal to...
Columns
Energy crisis prompts SMEs to boost renewables, energy savings
The energy crisis, high prices and threat of supply disruption following Russia’s war against Ukraine has prompted many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to...
Invasion of Ukraine
Prigozhin’s inglorious rebellion
Images of camouflaged gunmen seizing government buildings in a post-Soviet city were eerily reminiscent of what the world witnessed in the spring of 2014...
Greece
Back to Business: Greek conservatives rout socialist opposition parties in second round elections
Delivering an undeniable demonstration of Greece’s current focus on stability and the need to generate continued economic growth, the June 25 election produced the...
Energy
Astana International Forum addresses climate change, energy security, green transition
As many countries are planning sustainability and decarbonization strategies to meet climate targets, Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest energy producers, wants to be...
The Negroni Diaries
Strange goings on in Northern Greece seem to worry Ankara
Government-linked Turkish media have indicated concern about a series of visits and events in Greece’s Evros prefecture -- the Greek-Turkish border region -- which...
Energy
UK eyes energy security, increasing supplies amid stronger ties with Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan can play a special role in energy security in the new global environment, considering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and transition to a green...
The Negroni Diaries
Ukraine’s ‘Doolittle Raid’
Ukraine has proven that a numerically superior combatant can be defeated when confronted with superior tactics and a better-trained, motivated, and equipped opponent.
Greece
Boomerang! Greek socialists’ election jiggering backfires
Even though the Greek left-socialist party Syriza massively reconfigured the electoral system in 2016 to favor their long-term return plans before being ousted by...
Columns
Don’t roll out the barrels: Oil prices fall in view of slow recovery
Oil prices were down on April 24 as traders believe economic recovery will be slower than expected hurting global oil demand. A decision by...
Finland
Finland joins NATO
Before the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, only a third of Finns supported joining NATO. Russia’s war, however, led to almost unanimous overnight support amongst Finnish voters for membership in the alliance.
Zero Tolerance
Silicon Valley Bank financial contagion contained – for now
The world’s top policymakers and international financial leaders acted effectively in the days following the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank. They appear to have dealt positively with the risk of wider global financial contagion.
The Negroni Diaries
EU-Turkey earthquake relief conference: Time to get serious
The European Union is hosting a reconstruction conference in Brussels on March 20 to focus on the aftermath of Turkey’s devastating February 6 earthquakes,...
Bulgaria
Energy supply diversification out of Russia’s orbit is a top priority for Bulgaria
Bulgaria intends to diversify its energy resources, including supplying the country’s main refinery in Burgas - the largest in the Balkans - with non-Russian...
Invasion of Ukraine
Sanctions, sanctions everywhere
On February 24, 2023, the US Government alongside G-7 leaders announced via a White House statement a new set of trade and economic measures...
Greece
Eclipsed by Ukraine concerns, Blinken visits Turkey and Greece
After attending the Munich Security Conference on February on 17-19, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed for a brief regional mission to Turkey...
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan planning to launch green energy exports to Europe
Azerbaijan, which is already a main exporter of oil and gas, plans to develop its renewable energy potential, especially offshore wind in the Caspian...
The Philippines
US & Philippines agree to ramp up defense cooperation
The US and Philippines announced on February 2 a substantial expansion of their existing military cooperation arrangements, increasing the number of facilities that American...
The Negroni Diaries
Goodbye, Jumbo
The 747 aircraft design has had a total production run of 54 years, with 1,574 aircraft delivered including the US President’s Air Force One, along with several replacements, making it the aviation industry’s most important workhorse of the 1980s-90s.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria again heads towards elections
Bulgaria is now moving towards its fifth parliamentary election in two years as a result of the failure of the latest group of elected...
Columns
A Pan-American electricity grid from Patagonia to Alaska?
Challenges associated with different regulatory frameworks and the comprehensive international treaties that are required could scuttle the project before it gets off the ground.
Columns
World better prepared for Russian energy weapon in 2023
China’s demand for energy, the amount of Russian oil that will be cut from global supply will be key factors which will determine where the oil price trades in 2023.
Croatia
Croatia advances to the EU mainstream
Croatia took a decisive step January 1 towards the mainstream of the European project by adopting the Euro as its currency while at the...
Columns
Could this be the end of the Chekist renaissance?
Russia's once all-powerful successor to the KGB - the FSB - is watching its status crumble after major military defeats in Ukraine.
Columns
Putin threatens global security with renewed nuclear saber rattling
Putin's maniacal compulsion to start a nuclear war is not just a sinister ultimatum to world peace, it is simply mad.
Energy
Oil prices shrug off cap as Russia fires back with price floor threat
Oil markets will likely stay volatile in the near term amid uncertainty over the impact on Russian output from the EU's ban, headlines on China's COVID policy and central bank movements in the U.S. and Europe.
Albania
EU Tirana Summit: Enlargement must go on
The summit's generic one size fits all “membership perspective” statement was seen as good news by most after the topic of EU Enlargement had become a highly controversial subject.
Columns
The Winter War
With winter setting in, to guarantee a victory, Ukraine needs to further pressure the Europeans to act in a way that would fully solidify their own security interests, while also securing continued military and financial support from the US.
Columns
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlights fossil fuel dependencies
Every part of the part of Paris Agreement must be followed properly, the Czech Republic’s Deputy Environment Minister Jan Dusik said in comments to NE Global.
Africa
COP27 focuses on climate financing for developing nations
The COP27 U.N. climate summit, which kicked off on November 6 in Egypt, may reach a more concrete agreement this year as various climate...
Columns
As its war efforts fail, Moscow works to disable Ukraine’s power grid
Russia’s continued attacks on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine are especially focused on disabling heat generation, diminishing the country’s power supply.
Analysis
Miami morphs into a global business hub, can it last?
Due to Florida’s less stringent COVID restrictions, a political strategy driven by the state’s Republican governor, Florida became a vastly more attractive location for individuals able to work remotely.
Columns
Boosting EU-Ukraine rail links is crucial for a common & prosperous future
Facing heavy losses on the frontlines, a weakened and desperate Russia has cynically ramped up strikes on civilian power infrastructure in Kyiv and other...
Columns
Erdogan & Putin’s plan to create a gas hub in Turkey is a purely anti-Western political ploy
The initiative would be a significant political move by Ankara and Moscow that directly challenges the West and its support for Ukraine.
Iran
British MPs urge UK govt to support Iran’s ongoing protest movement
More than a dozen British lawmakers met this week with the Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi to discuss the ongoing protests in the Islamic...
Energy
OPEC+’s massive supply cut is a clear win for Russia
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties (OPEC) and its Russia-led allies of oil-producing nations struck a major blow against the West's sanctions against Moscow...
Zero Tolerance
Washington sanctions BiH officials undermining Dayton Agreement
On October 3, the US Department of State announced the designation of two individuals and one commercial entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for...
The Foreign Desk
The world’s poorest nations are suffering from Europe’s shortsighted sanctions regime
In the nearly three months since Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and a delegation from the UN met in Istanbul to hammer out an agreement that...
Agriculture & Food Security
Europe’s agricultural sector is crying out for support amid energy and food crises
Europe’s energy crisis – which has been sparked mainly by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and President Putin’s subsequent curtailing of natural gas flows to...
Global Energy Insider
Weaning itself off of Russian energy, the EU looks to Azerbaijan, East Med
As Europe tries to lessen its dependence on Russian energy after the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, the EU is turning to Azerbaijan and the...