Claude Salhani

Latest articles from Claude

• The Islamic State: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

  Published 15 July 2014 | viewed 7,119 times

  If you think the oil industry is already too powerful, imagine that power under the control of already powerful terrorists whose aim is political supremacy…

• Obama Fiddles While Iraq Burns

  Published 08 July 2014 | viewed 6,642 times

  To compare U.S. President Barack Obama to a modern-day Nero may be somewhat harsh, but as the Middle East continues to disintegrate, falling into chaos…

• ISIS: Is It All About The Oil?

  Published 23 June 2014 | viewed 10,599 times

  The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – the radical Islamist group in control of large swaths of the two countries from which it…

• Why ISIS Won't Stop With Iraq

  Published 17 June 2014 | viewed 27,284 times

  The slaughterhouse that Iraq has become in the past week is the stuff that nightmares are made of. And this is just the beginning.  The…

• Moscow and Kiev: A Dialogue Of The Deaf

  Published 09 June 2014 | viewed 5,748 times

  A major energy crisis was averted last week in parts of Europe when common sense prevailed over the habitual hard-headedness often displayed by many politicians.Russia…

• EU Backs Help From Azerbaijan And Turkmenistan To Keep Europe Warm

  Published 21 May 2014 | viewed 6,903 times

  At the Eurasian Media Forum in Kazakhstan last month, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak advised his audience not to make political predictions, because, he…

• Opportunity For Azerbaijan As Europe Seeks Alternative To Russian Energy

  Published 13 May 2014 | viewed 7,976 times

  BAKU -- The last time Azerbaijan found itself at the center of geopolitics in a major way was when Nazi Germany was hoping to take…

• Israel Celebrates 66th Anniversary With Some Peace, Some Oil, Some Incertitude

  Published 06 May 2014 | viewed 5,172 times

  May 5th marked the 66th anniversary of the founding of Israel. As the Jewish state marked the occasion, the government looks forward to exploiting the…

• Western Sanctions On Russia? Think Twice

  Published 29 April 2014 | viewed 7,887 times

  Angered and frustrated Western leaders want to impose sanctions on Russia in retaliation for President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine. However, the U.S. and its…

• Instability In Energy Producing Countries Brings Risks, Rewards

  Published 23 April 2014 | viewed 4,638 times

  Along with causing considerable hand wringing among Western leaders, Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea has raised concern in the oil and gas world -- an…

• Who Really Won the Cold War Now?

  Published 15 April 2014 | viewed 6,350 times

  Since the fall of the Berlin Wall the West was under the illusion that it had won the Cold War. The Western powers had defeated…

• Russia’s New Weapons: Passports and Pipelines

  Published 08 April 2014 | viewed 10,589 times

  Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Sebastopol last month, Western leaders have been pondering how to get back at Moscow for its actions without starting…

• Syria: Playing With Oil and Fire

  Published 01 April 2014 | viewed 6,386 times

  Politics and religion are two ingredients that are potentially dangerous in any context when mixed together. Now add three years of a violent civil war, deep-rooted…

• Showdown in Ukraine: Putin’s Quest for Ports, Oil, Pipelines and Gas

  Published 25 March 2014 | viewed 25,663 times

  Yes, Russia is guilty of meddling in Ukraine, but then again so are the United States and the European Union. The major difference is that…

• How to Mess Up a Revolution? Add Oil and Stir

  Published 18 March 2014 | viewed 6,554 times

  Following the popular uprising that saw the overthrow of the country’s dictator, Libya had everything going for it. Or so many Libyans thought.It had the…

• Can Oil Turn Beirut into a New Dubai or a New Baghdad?

  Published 11 March 2014 | viewed 8,229 times

  The discovery of an important deposit of oil and natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea a few years ago in a triangular area just…

• Russia’s Eastern War: Part Two?

  Published 04 March 2014 | viewed 6,883 times

  The crisis in the Crimea has already raised the price of Russian oil by $2 a barrel, as of Monday creating havoc on some energy…

• Saudi Arabia: When the Old Guard Fails, Bring in ..the Old Guard

  Published 25 February 2014 | viewed 6,970 times

  Here is a prediction: if the current war in Syria is not contained it will only be a matter of time before it affects any…

• Is Iran fooling the West?

  Published 18 February 2014 | viewed 7,295 times

  There are growing concerns in some political circles that the pressure placed on Iran to have it stop its nuclear development programs may have been…

• Iran Takes on the US: Is this Provocation, Defiance or Tomfoolery?

  Published 11 February 2014 | viewed 14,569 times

  Responding to the US naval presence in the Gulf, described by the Islamic Republic of Iran as “arrogant,” Iranian leaders have decided to dispatch a…