The Middle East
Archive
Covid recovery, supply chain woes ratchet up oil prices
Oil prices hit multi-year highs this week as Covid recovery and coal, electricity and natural gas shortages are fueling demand for crude.“It has a...
Afghanistan
In US foreign policy, realists are finally on the rise
During the autumn of 2020, the United States lost one of its most brilliant, incisive, yet unheralded thinkers in Sherle R. Schwenninger.One of Schwenninger’s...
Albania
Greece again agrees to expand US defense cooperation
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias traveled to Washington October 13-14 to participate in a scheduled session of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue, where he met...
Archive
Satisfied OPEC+ keeps oil supply status quo
At the OPEC+ meeting, which came against a backdrop with Brent trading just under $80 per barrel, oil ministers decided on October 4 to...
Analysis
The West needs to unite to fight for human rights
Human rights seem nonexistent in today’s world. That’s because the world’s democracies are not fighting for it.
While the world’s dictatorships always seem to have...
Afghanistan
Why the Taliban’s promise to stop the opium trade rings hollow
One of the first announcements the Taliban made after seizing power in Afghanistan in August was that they were going to “ban the production and sale...
Afghanistan
Why the fall of Afghanistan sllows Iran to expand its influence
Since 2020, the United States has been working to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The Americans' announcement emboldened the Taliban, who recently took control...
Analysis
Lebanon’s public debt default
The nature and causes of sovereign debt differ from one country to another. Yet, the popular or engineered narrative of debt usually conceals its...
Afghanistan
With the AUKUS pact, the US has opted to snub some of its European partners
In the nearly nine months since he took office, it has become apparent that the US and European Union will not immediately experience a...
Afghanistan
Will Central Asia serve as Europe’s bridge to Afghanistan?
Just over one month on from the fall of Kabul, Europe is still grasping for answers to the question of how to engage in...
Archive
Uzbekistan announces financial proposals for 100MW wind farm in Karakalpakstan
Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry announced on September 16 the financial proposals of the investors/bidders in their contest to become the independent power producer to develop...
Afghanistan
What are Turkey’s ambitions in Afghanistan after the US’ withdrawal?
After the United States finished its withdrawal from the two-decade war in Afghanistan on August 31, regional powers remain at work trying to understand...
Afghanistan
The West must apply the lessons of Afghanistan and Tunisia to Libya
Twenty years have now passed since 9/11. Since then, differing ideas of the importance of democracy in Middle Eastern policy have dominated the foreign...
Africa
Conflict is spreading across the African continent
Many African countries are run by dictatorships, but their grasp on power is increasingly unstable. Mali has seen at least 2 changes of power...
Afghanistan
On 9/11, it’s time for a reckoning and reflection of decades of failed US national security policy
A reckoning with America’s failed national security policy is long overdue.Our calamitous misadventures in the Middle East and the global financial collapse of 2008...
Archive
TotalEnergies inks major energy deals in Iraq
TotalEnergies, the Iraqi Ministries for oil and electricity, and the country's National Investment Commission have signed, in the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa...
Afghanistan
What next after 20 years of war in Afghanistan? Anatol Lieven on the U.S.’ legacy and the Taliban’s rise
On August 30, 2021, a C-17 transport plane took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, signaling the end of America’s longest war....
Afghanistan
Enough of the Durban depravity
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the so-called “World Conference Against Racism”, otherwise known as Durban I. The 2001 conference was to be...
Archive
OPEC+ keeps output increase to 400,000 bpd despite US calls for more supply
Oil prices increased on September 3 after slow recovery for US Gulf Coast exports from hurricane Ida earlier this week and the decision by...
Afghanistan
Europe willingly forfeited a leadership role in Afghanistan
If Winston Churchill were alive today, I imagine he might have said something like “Never in the history of human conflict have so few...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan 2021: An extremist ‘stammtisch’
Everybody has a favorite bar or coffee house. A place you can go to seek solace or connect with old friends. In some cases,...
Analysis
Under Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s LGBTQ community fears the worst
The recent election of Ebrahim Raisi as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has sent shockwaves through the country's LGBTQ community, with many...
Analysis
Are Turkish investors falling for Hamas’ games?
Recent reports have revealed the extent of investments and assets controlled by Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, within Turkey.
Hamas has long maintained a strong...
Afghanistan
Economic progress and political reforms give post-Soviet space reason to celebrate
On August 30th, Kazakhstan celebrated one of the country’s most important holidays—Constitution Day, which commemorates the adoption of the 1995 constitution which confirmed the...
Archive
Uzbekistan inaugurates first utility-scale 100MW solar power plant
Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry announced on August 27 the inauguration ceremony for the country’s first utility-scale solar plant - and the first successfully-financed independent power...
Afghanistan
How Erdogan will “manage” the Afghan refugee crisis
Images of Afghan refugees scrambling to escape Kabul following the Taliban’s seizure of power will haunt the international community for decades. According to the...
Analysis
An EU diplomatic ‘bâdgir’ in Vienna: The Iran nuclear deal 2.0
When things get hot, you look to cool them down. Persian culture is too familiar with heat with scorching Middle East temperatures. One of...
Analysis
The EU’s plans for stabilizing Libya via democratic elections alone are set to fail
The European Union has for years invested its diplomatic efforts, as well as millions of Euros, into bringing a sense of security to Libya,...
Archive
Oil prices fall on signals Fed will start tapering stimulus measures
Oil prices fell to three-month lows this week due to the signal from the Federal Reserve that it will start tapering stimulus measures and...
Afghanistan
The EU is nothing but a feckless spectator in the unfolding Afghan crisis
The surprising speed by which the Taliban seized control, with relative ease, of the whole of Afghanistan is a major geopolitical debacle for the...
Afghanistan
A monster miracle from a cave
In the history of sport, there have been many unforgettable victories. True testaments of teams achieving the unthinkable. The 1980 Winter Olympics men’s hockey...
Afghanistan
Russia and China poised to gain influence in Afghanistan
Amidst the chaotic scenes that ushered in the Taliban’s take over of the Afghan capital Kabul, coupled with the West's harried exodus from the...
Afghanistan
The legacy of failure in Afghanistan starts in 1979, not 2001
A decade ago, John Lamberton Harper, a professor of US Foreign Policy and European Studies at Johns Hopkins in Bologna, Italy published an indispensable...
Afghanistan
US Balkan allies to host Afghan refugee processing operations
Even before the Taliban had completed its occupation of Kabul, American allies Albania and Kosovo told Washington that they would serve as transit countries...
Afghanistan
A viable – and perhaps the only – path to lasting peace in Afghanistan
As each day goes by, the Taliban’s forces edge closer to controlling all of Afghanistan. In the first week of August, the Taliban swept...
Analysis
As the Gulf recovers, knowledge-based economies prove the way forward
As the world economy slowly emerges from the COVID crisis, it is the Gulf region that is making the most impressive rebounds.
At the beginning...
Archive
Ukraine’s Naftogaz seeks investors to boost energy security
Ukraine’s national joint stock oil and gas company Naftogaz said on August 6 it initiates the Ukraine Gas Investment Congress (UGIC) in order to...
Analysis
How the Austrians and their Chancellor charmed the Arabs
In late July, the Austrian capital of Vienna hosted a special guest. It was none other than the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The...
Archive
Eriell focuses on Uzbekistan and Russia, eyes Gulf region
Eriell, an international oilfield services group, presented on July 29 information on production indicators achieved in the first half of 2021 and upcoming projects.Despite...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan and the Great Powers
Can Afghanistan's never-ending internal conflict be resolved by the efforts of great and regional powers that have numerous conflicting strategic and global goals? Is...
Afghanistan
France has a generals problem: Why there’s a fray in civilian-military relations
The sensitive question of civilian control of the armed forces is one which Western democracies like the United States and France must continue to...
Archive
Revised OPEC+ deal very favourable for Russia
As the global economy recovers from the Covid pandemic fueling oil prices, OPEC+ countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, reached a deal via videoconference...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: No peace without a clear vision
Peace is the absence of war, while war is the absence of peace! A negotiated peace in Afghanistan presents a number of challenges. The...
Afghanistan
Making sense of the Italy-UAE rift
Earlier this month the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ordered the withdrawal of all Italian aircraft and personnel from its Al Minhad Air Force Base...
Afghanistan
When the “New Middle East” meets the “New Europe”
Middle Eastern experts have commented widely on the “new” foreign policy of the United Arab Emirates. Many of these same commentators have gone so...
Armenia
Is Armenia heading towards a collision with the West?
As Iran sinks deeper into crisis, the ayatollahs are desperately seeking to strengthen ally-ships wherever they can.Iran’s economic situation has gone from bad to...
Afghanistan
From Vienna to Tripoli, the Muslim Brotherhood’s impact is felt on both sides of the Mediterranean
Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has recently undertaken a number of legislative initiatives that target Islamist groups and movements, which are active within the country,...
Afghanistan
A broken migration system
Turkey and Greece are both transit countries for migrants on their way to Germany and wealthy destinations in northern Europe. Migrants are resilient. Many...
Archive
Uzbekistan inks project deals with Masdar for 2 solar plants in Jizzakh and Samarkand
Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry announced on July 12 it has now signed project agreements with Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) for the two 220...
Archive
Russia unlikely to interfere in Saudi-UAE dispute to raise oil output
“There is a very wise old saying that ‘it is a very foolish person that seeks to interfere in family disputes,’” Chris Weafer, co-founder...
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