Geopolitics

Apr 15, 2013 at 17:01 | John Daly

The Middle East is not renowned for thinking small, especially in terms of energy projects.The Jordanian and Iraqi media are announcing, amidst great fanfare, an agreement to…

Apr 15, 2013 at 16:55 | Daniel J. Graeber

The apparent victory for Nicolos Maduro in the Venezuelan presidential election may give the United States a sense of hope for improved ties with the Latin American oil giant. His…

Apr 11, 2013 at 17:08 | Daniel J. Graeber

Crude oil from the semiautonomous Kurdish region of Iraq has reached the international market for the first time. Oil was ferried by truck across the northern Iraqi border to Turkey…

Apr 10, 2013 at 17:08 | Daniel J. Graeber

Asian consumers are expected to help the Iranian oil sector recovery briefly this month. The U.S. State Department in March lauded Japan for its "significant reductions" in crude oil exports,…

Apr 09, 2013 at 16:50 | Claude Salhani

The tiny Gulf kingdom of Bahrain became the first Arab country to place the Shiite Lebanese movement, Hezbollah, on their terrorist list earlier this week. It is a rather bold…

Apr 08, 2013 at 18:16 | John Daly

In 1946, with the U.S.-USSR-British military alliance that had defeated Germany and Japan in World War Two unraveling, U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan cabled a dispatch to Washington advocating a…

Apr 02, 2013 at 18:00 | Claude Salhani

Egypt’s economy is in rather bad shape; practically in a shambles. Unemployment is officially placed at 13 percent, though the reality is certainly much higher. Inflation has almost doubled since…

Apr 01, 2013 at 11:20 | Editorial Dept

I’ve been skeptical about investing in either of the two Sudans without an oil and border security deal in place. That said, recent developments remove a lot of the political…

Apr 01, 2013 at 11:09 | Editorial Dept

Bottom Line: The call for peace by Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has a new tone that recognizes the potential for an independent Kurdistan in…

Apr 01, 2013 at 11:06 | Editorial Dept

Bottom Line: As Maduro expels two US government officials from Venezuela, cutting off informal channels of communication, and the US reciprocates by expelling 2 Venezuelan diplomats, optimism surrounding a post-Chavez…

Apr 01, 2013 at 11:03 | Editorial Dept

Bottom Line: A new leadership is emerging for this resource-rich country after Seleka rebels seized the presidential palace in Bangui and forced CAR President Francois Bozize to flee, while French…

Apr 01, 2013 at 10:56 | Editorial Dept

Bottom Line: A deal in the works for a Israel-Turkey pipeline that would transport Levant Basin gas to Turkey under the Mediterranean comes one step closer to realization with an…

Mar 27, 2013 at 17:42 | Charles Kennedy

US media are now reporting what everyone else has known for some time: American special forces are helping train Syrian rebels on Jordanian territory, despite the fact that radical jihadists…

Mar 26, 2013 at 18:12 | Claude Salhani

By now it is no great secret that the small, but vastly rich oil and gas producing state of Qatar is playing a major role in supporting and financing opposition…

Mar 25, 2013 at 18:35 | Geopolitical Monitor

South Sudan may have taken most of Sudan’s known energy reserves with it when it voted for independence in 2011, but that doesn’t mean Khartoum has given up on keeping…

Mar 22, 2013 at 19:54 | Mansour Kashfi

The oil industry of Iran has now been brought into partial ruin and decay. This dilapidated state of Iran’s oil industry is a clear reflection of corruption within the governing…

Mar 22, 2013 at 15:54 | Editorial Dept

Bottom Line: Dueling dynamics of the conflict in Syria and the brewing oil and gas conflict between the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurds are creating another dangerous frontline…

Mar 22, 2013 at 15:45 | Editorial Dept

Bottom Line: As the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) escalates, the surrender to international authorities of a key Congolese general linked to M23 rebels will reshape the…

Mar 21, 2013 at 18:16 | John Daly

Africa is undergoing the great scrabble for its resources since Europeans carved up the Dark Continent in the 19th century.The latest to enter the fray for Africa’s energy…

Mar 20, 2013 at 18:19 | Charles Kennedy

The Syrian regime claims that rebels have launched a chemical attack on the strategic northern city of Aleppo, killing 25 people and wounding dozens more, while rebels claim the attack…