There are a number of…
Kazakhstan is actively expanding its…
The distraction provided by the…
With input from Juba, Khartoum, and London resources. South Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar has begun escalating his attacks against Pres. Salva Kiir in order to divert attention from the total…
For centuries, maritime powers have used their navies to “show the flag” in contested naval issues. Unlike armies, which must mobilize on frontiers, or air forces, which would need to…
What if Mexico were to privatize its state-owned oil company Pemex around the same time that the US and Mexico ended the moratorium on oil and gas production along their…
Qatar Emir Cedes Power to SonEmir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (61) ceded power Tuesday to his 33-year-old son, Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani. This is not a…
The situation in Egypt has not been tenable since the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi took over, post-revolution, but now that the military has stepped in, ousted Morsi and…
It is no secret that the South and East Asian economies have chafed under the multi-layered sanctions adopted by the United States, European Union and United Nations Security council against…
Recent discoveries of oil and natural gas fields off the coasts of Lebanon and Israel are not likely to settle any of the region’s long-standing disputes. Rather they may instead…
The US House has ratified an agreement governing oil and gas development along the US-Mexico border, possibly breaking the moratorium on production here and adding in a controversial clause that…
The British government got an earful from Kazakhstan this week despite Prime Minister David Cameron's economic outreach. The prime minister arrived Sunday in Kazakhstan to help launch one of the…
The Central African Republic has become a key player, working under Sudanese and Iranian direction, in jihadist action, geared to take advantage of the West's declining influence in Western and…
The first European colonial empire to be established, Portugal’s overseas territories were some of the last to attain independence, leaving aftershocks which reverberate to this day, particularly in Mozambique.
The change of leadership in Qatar on June 25, 2013, served as a signal of a subtle, but profound, change of direction in the greater Middle East. Of significance, however,…
Are the Saudis and the Qataris, strong supporters of the Syrian rebellion, worried by the turn of events in Syria and in neighboring countries? They should be. Of the…
Energy-hungry Asian economies are trying to figure out how to keep the supply of oil coming from Iran in a way that keeps the U.S. government happy. China in May…
The competition between China and Japan, the two economic heavyweights of East Asia, has now intensified at a time when both countries are hungrier than ever for resources and energy…
The continuing conflict in Syria, and the slow spread of violence in the region around it, continue to make it difficult to make accurate predictions about the future of oil…
Iranian Elections Bode Well for Political UnityThe Iranian people elected a new president on 14 June in the first round, with over 70% voter turnout. Hassan Rouhani won…
‘Peacekeepers’ for South African MinesSouth Africa is toying with the idea of deploying what it refers to as “peacekeepers” to restore a sense of security to the countries…
As Kurdish authorities in Northern Iraq announce they will begin exporting crude oil by pipeline to Turkey as soon as the last link is finished in September, Gulf Keystone Petroleum…
Egypt, by mid-June 2013, had begun taking a two-pronged strategic approach — overtly diplomatic, covertly combative — to its dealings with Ethiopia over alleged (or potential) to its dealings with…