UAE
Sanctions and related policies
Ahead of nuclear talks, Trump administration orders new sanctions on Iran’s shadow fleet and Chinese refiners
Washington’s sanctions campaign of “maximum pressure on Iran” is intensifying, despite the start of initial discussions between the U.S. and Iran over nuclear issues...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Tashkent’s busy diplomatic agenda
In the coming months, Uzbekistan will host high-profile summits between Central Asia with the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. As global geopolitics...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Development of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions: an integrative future vision
When the issue at hand is as significant as the integration between world religions in terms of shared values and collective thinking, it is...
Columns
Eyeing competitors, OPEC+ countries will keep cutting oil production
Several OPEC+ countries are extending additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day, aimed at supporting what they are labeling "the stability and...
Africa
TotalEnergies joins Masdar and Siemens Energy to develop green hydrogen
Dubai-based renewable energy major Masdar announced on January 19 that TotalEnergies is adding its expertise in the energy sector to a Masdar-led initiative focused...
Archive
Support for frontline staff and volunteers is key to overcoming Europe’s fresh COVID onslaught
In many ways, Europe is far better placed to withstand its second pandemic winter. Though cases are surging across the continent and the new...
Archive
Masdar inks deal to develop Armenias largest solar power plant
UAE’s Masdar has signed an agreement with the Government of Armenia to develop a 200-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant. The Ayg-1 project will...
Archive
UAE, Kazakhstan to explore opportunities in the energy sector
Samruk-Kazyna, the sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan, said on December 1 it has signed a long-term strategic agreement with Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company,...
Archive
Uzbekistan plans to double energy production to 30 GW by 2030
Uzbekistan will announce three new international tenders, for the construction of over 400 kilometers of overhead power lines, and two other new tenders for...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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
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...
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
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
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...
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...
Archive
OPEC+ seeks agreement on oil production policy
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC, an energy alliance often referred to as OPEC+, was expected to reconvene via teleconference on...
Archive
EU stands by COP26 and IRENA in global energy transition dialogue
The European Union stands by COP26 and renewables agency IRENA in their efforts to build a constructive dialogue about the global energy transition, EU...
Archive
Israel-UAE oil transport deal sparks environmental, security concerns in Tel Aviv
Israel's Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel has called on National Security Council head Meir Ben Shabbat to cancel an oil deal recently signed with...
Analysis
Europe must double down on fighting antisemitism
Whenever Israel exercises its right to defend itself against terror, count on a wave of violent antisemitism to sweep across the West. Last month,...
Archive
The last party in the oil market
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major crude producers led by Russia, a group so-called OPEC+, agreed on June 1...
Archive
No discounts on the EU’s fundamental values
Alexander Schallenberg has been Austria's Federal Minister for European and International Affairs in the second Sebastian Kurz government since January 2020. He previously served...
Archive
Uzbekistan President highlights green recovery agenda
Uzbekistan’s environmental protection and green recovery are high on the Central Asian country’s priorities, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said in his speech on May 30...
Archive
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar wins solar power plants tenders in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry announced on May 21 the winning bidder of public-private partnership (PPP) tenders for two photovoltaic solar plants in the Jizzakh and...
Archive
Ode to the Cold War: Geopolitics is more complicated than ever
“Christ, I miss the Cold War,” hisses Judi Dench while playing the role of 'M' in the 2006 James Bond reboot, Casino Royale. Well,...
Archive
Dubai-based Phanes Group inks agreements to develop solar power plant in Uzbekistan
Dubai-based international solar energy developer Phanes Group have signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Investment Agreement (IA) for a 200 MWАС grid-connected solar...
Archive
Saudi Arabia, Russia coordinate policy as OPEC+ leaves oil output unchanged
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, a group so-called OPEC+, met by videoconference on March 4...
Albania
An advocacy for giving precedence to the EU’s Copenhagen Criteria in the Western Balkans
Among the precious little remaining friends of a quick EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans, the threat of non-friendly powers encroaching in the region...
Economy & Business
The UAE is a natural partner for Europe’s sustainable future
The EU continues to show global leadership in addressing climate change. With its European Green Deal and climate objectives shortly to be enshrined into...
Analysis
A new dawn for Libya brings hope for regional stability
While it may seem as though only one subject has dominated the news for the past year, and our lives came to a very...
Analysis
The UAE’s sustainability
The UAE, like other petroleum-producing economies, has been severely hit by the twin shock of low oil prices and pandemic containment measures, which have...
Archive
IRENA endorses global energy transition forum as part of COVID-19 recovery
Striving to spur energy transition as integral part of COVID-19 recovery, members of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) approved on January 21 the...
Archive
Italy’s ENI and UAE’s SNOC begin gas production from Mahani field in Sharjah
Italian energy major ENI and Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) from the United Arab Emirates announced on January 4 production start-up from the Mahani...
Archive
Crude oil price rally may face supply side pressure in early 2021
Oil traders are optimistic the start of the deployment of vaccines means that an end to the worst economic ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic...
Archive
OPEC+ likely to extend oil cuts seeing slow fuel demand recovery from vaccines
Oil prices climbed to their highest in more than eight months on November 25 fuelled by continuing hopes that energy demand will recover once...
Afghanistan
Final Trump UN General Assembly address hits multilateralism
In the final address to the UN General Assembly of his current term in office, US President Donald J Trump sent a short video...
Archive
US walks alone in Iran sanctions, EU goes other way
The European Union remains committed to implementing the Iran nuclear deal as a matter of respecting international agreements and of the bloc’s shared international...
Australia
Gulf nations have been quick to prevent economic downturn and Europe must do the same
From the outset of the novel coronavirus outbreak, it became clear that its repercussions would go far beyond public health. As countries have scrambled...
Archive
US, UK, Turkey asked to arrest UAE 'war crimes' suspects
The United Kingdom, Turkey and the United States have been asked to open investigations into alleged war crimes by the United Arab Emirates in...
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