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Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The Critical Importance of Religious Values in AI
Right or wrong, generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has reached more than half the world’s organizations in just three years, and is triggering fundamental changes...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Jared Kushner had better drop out of his Albania project — for his own good
Jared Kushner had better drop out of his Albania project -- for his own good! That was the thought that crossed my mind when...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
In the UK’s defense…
With all the current political upheaval in the UK, it is almost easy to forget that what prompted the current turmoil was a row...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Brussels’ Google file is only half-written
Type something into Google. A question about a lump, a debt, a divorce, a political party you would rather not be seen supporting. Under...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Climate innovation will require more than batteries: Why biological deep-tech deserves attention
The global climate transition is accelerating faster than ever. Governments, industries, investors, and researchers across the world are searching for technologies capable of reducing...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Baltic Ambition: How Lithuania and Latvia Are Building Europe’s Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
There is a Latvian saying that the slower you go, the further you will get. This is a reminder to take your time and...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
What comes after a World Cup? Qatar’s answer is taking shape
For Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup did not end with the final whistle at Lusail Stadium; it marked the beginning of a more...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Brussels wants more tax power – again
European institutions are aligning behind a major expansion of EU-level fiscal powers in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028-2034). Alongside a larger budget, Brussels...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The Serbia and Albania Projects: How an American billionaire was lured into controversial business opportunities
In December 2025, Affinity Partners, the investment vehicle run by Jared Kushner (U.S. President Trump’s son-in-law and sometimes Special Envoy), announced it was pulling...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The Quiet Keystone: How Kyrgyzstan Forms the Core of Europe-Asia Connectivity
It is very rare that one hears about the importance of Kyrgyzstan to the vast world outside the Central Asian region. This country, much...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
IMEC’s Corridor of Letters
In February 2026, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones presented investors with a map titled “APSEZ rejuvenates India’s historic trade routes.” The phrase is...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Summer madness
As the days get longer and the chill of early spring starts to melt into much needed warmth around the world, so our mood...
Europe & Eurasia
EU policymakers should learn from Germany’s nicotine pouch ban
Germany has effectively banned nicotine pouches, yet sources show products remain widely available driving consumers toward unregulated grey markets instead of reducing their consumption....
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Technology and the Future of Work
The role of technology in the Future of Work is not simply a matter of automation replacing human labor; it is a deeper transformation...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Social media giants found liable for child addiction: What happens next?
On March 25, a Los Angeles jury delivered a judgment poised to reshape the social media landscape for years to come. After nine intense...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Maintaining the Port of Aqaba with IMEC Transit Fees
In early 2026, an Israeli official discussing the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) described Jordan’s concern that IMEC could divert cargo from the Port...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Europe’s regulatory reset: Why simplification must go further
The late motorsport innovator and founder of Lotus Cars Colin Chapman lived and worked by the maxim “simplify and add lightness.” The same tenet...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Turkmenistan is finally in the right place at the right time
Turkmenistan has for decades talked about making much greater use of its vast gas reserves to both expand export volumes and to diversify its...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
How should Europe weather a perfect storm?
The world is in chaos, with the situation changing by the minute. As I write, President Trump has announced a deal with the Ayatollah,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Kazakhstan: A New Constitution for a New Era
On March 15, voters in Kazakhstan overwhelmingly endorsed a new Constitution, with 87 percent voting in favor with a turnout exceeding 73 percent. The...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
An odd couple and the diminished EU Membership as an opportunity for the Western Balkans?
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama’s latest political move brings to mind a blunt Old Testament warning: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The overlooked barrier to global economic progress
As world leaders in government, business and civil society gathered for the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (#WEF56) in Davos last...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Qatar drives dialogue and innovation in driverless e-Mobility
Set to host the Autonomous e-Mobility Forum in Doha this September, Qatar continues to get ready for showcasing the latest in and around sustainable...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The global economic tectonic plates are moving. So, what could this mean?
Love him or hate him, U.S. President Donald Trump will go down in history as the great disruptor, having completely shaken up the established...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Why the EU–India trade deal marks a strategic turning point
The Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore once said that you cannot cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. The importance...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Moldova’s foreign policy goals for 2026: No unification, but more European integration
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in a recent media interview that she would support Moldova’s unification with Romania if the Moldovan population voted in...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
EU-Mercosur: a positive step away from the folly of isolationism
It is often said that pursuing protectionism is just like locking one's self in a dark room: wind and rain might be kept out,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Ukraine’s energy reconstruction and the strategic rise of Europe’s Vertical Corridor that reshapes Transatlantic security
The reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure constitutes one of the most consequential geopolitical and economic undertakings of our era. It is not merely a...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Australia’s under-16 social media ban: A new blueprint for global digital regulation?
Australia steps first -- now the question is which governments will follow and how far they will emulate Australia’s experiment. For the first time,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
After the chaos of an utterly confused UK Budget
The Chancellor has finally delivered her much-delayed Budget. The verdict? “Après Le Deluge” – or in this case, “after the chaos of an utterly...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Europe risks doubling down on its big green mistake
John Maynard Keynes once said that when the facts change, he changes his mind. The words of that world famous UK economist should be...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Mining in Iran: A problem that affects the oppressed Azerbaijani population
Two noteworthy events took place between late October and November. In late October, the head of the Iran Mine House, Mohammad Reza Bahraman, said,...
Hungary
Political shifts and Orbán: future scenarios
The parliamentary elections in Hungary, scheduled for April 2026, are increasingly viewed by experts as potentially the most challenging for Viktor Orbán during his...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Serbia’s energy dilemma: How to break from Russia and save its stability
Serbia’s energy “decoupling” from Russia seems to be on the horizon. The Southeast European nation, long heavily dependent on Russian gas -- and, to...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Europe Should Regulate, Not Ban, Nicotine Pouches
As France moves toward banning nicotine pouches, it risks pushing users back to cigarettes or into unregulated and potentially harmful markets. Sweden, by contrast,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Take a deep breath — the UK Budget is on its way
We have been softened up for what is going to be bad news, although no doubt there will be some sweeteners snuck in. So,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
How Europe should avoid the fate of Ophelia
In her hit single “The Fate of Ophelia” Taylor Swift sings about the plight of the Shakespearean heroine and draws parallels with her own...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
When Will Ukraine Become the Outpost of European Defense?
The security landscape of the European continent hinges on the European Union’s determination to halt Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine and to prevent the...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Solidarity or strategic interest? Qatar’s role in the future of least developed countries
At the recent High-Level Meeting for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), held in Seville on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Financing...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Fourth estate’s useful idiots: Cases from Albania in which international media should have known better
The cashless dreamThis July, a Politico Europe journalist texted me about comments regarding Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s recent statement that he would abolish...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The glitter is coming off gilts
Trust, confidence and expertise - these three words must be at the heart of the job description for any of the three high offices...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
When Drones Cross the Line
In the early hours of 10 September, a wave of Russian drones launched against targets in Ukraine crossed a dangerous threshold both literally and...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Central Asia: An Aladdin’s Cave of Critical Minerals
For most of the three decades since independence, the Central Asian “stans” and the countries in the Caucasus attracted little attention from western governments....
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Government and money
Autumn: a season of mellow fruitfulness, or of storms, shorter days and financially darker nights? Either way, it’s when Rachel Reeves’ next Budget is...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Summer food for thought: why Brussels needs a pro-business reset
The American author Charles Bowden once said that summertime is always the best of what might be. As the traditional European summer break approaches,...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
Moldova: Engaging neighbors, not just Global powers
In this era of Great Power competition, or Cold War 2.0, there are a plethora of analyses and commentaries about evolving geopolitical affairs, including...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
The Israel-Iran conflict in our perspective
In the Albanian public debate on the armed conflict between Israel and Iran, a prevailing notion has been the contrast between Israel, a democracy...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
How the arrest of a French politician carries lessons for Brussels
A French senator caught smuggling 22 kilos of tobacco in her suitcase should be a wake-up call for Brussels. But so far, the European...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
First, Sudanese Armed Forces use chemical weapons, strikes against civilians: now cholera compounds the misery
The determination of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to crush all resistance to its imposition of hegemony over all of Sudan, which has already...
Trade
Terrific or Terrible Tariffs with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice
There is a very good chance that most of you will have seen the Walt Disney’s animation film Fantasia, which came out in 1940,...
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