Syndication Bureau
Erdogan’s NATO expansion roadblock will only harm Turkey
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tends to shoot first and ask questions much later, and he is clearly making the same mistake once again with the NATO enlargement issue, writes Henri J. Barkey.
Can Europe and Turkey crowd Russia out of the Caucasus?
If a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh is signed in Brussels rather than in Moscow, it will be another Russian geopolitical defeat, writes Nikola Mikovic.
The allure of Middle East hydrogen
With European and Asian gas prices hitting historic highs, even expensive hydrogen begins to look more attractive, but production costs need to drop significantly and production must be scaled up if it is to become an alternative to fossil gas, writes Robin Mills.
A tangled web for Turkey in Russia’s war with Ukraine
As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its second week, Turkey finds itself in an unenviable position, entangled geographically, economically, politically, and militarily with the war’s protagonists, writes Henri J Barkey.
Ukraine at the crossroads of a European energy crisis
If the Ukraine tensions continue, Russia risks severely damaging its own economy and energy future. But over the next few months, Europe’s energy scene could become very uncomfortable writes, Robin M. Mills.
The Sahel insurgency is shaking West Africa’s democratic foundations
The latest coup attempt in Burkina Faso is evidence that politics is failing, not merely on a national level but on a regional level, writes Faisal Al Yafai.
Who’s to blame when your autonomous car kills someone?
A legal review prepared for the British government recommends that those using autonomous vehicles be immune from prosecution if their car breaks the law - even if the infraction results in death. Consumers should pause before embracing a technology that is neither ready nor required, argues Jonathan Gornall.
After the protests, what debt will Kazakhstan’s leaders owe Russia?
What seems obvious after the recent protests is that Kazakhstan might become even more reliant on Russia, demonstrating a diminished ability to balance the influence of Washington and Moscow, writes Aigerim Toleukhanova.
Turkey’s 2021 wildfires are part of a wider environmental failure
Wildfires have occurred in Turkey for thousands of years, but the amount of land destroyed increased significantly in 2021, an embarrassing situation for the government which decided to impose penalties on media outlets that did not appear sympathetic to its position, writes Alexandra de Cramer.
France’s exit from the Sahel war offers Russia an opportunity to move in
Another Western army is leaving a fragile, landlocked region. But whereas the United States has pulled its troops out of one country, Afghanistan, France is walking away from five, argues Faisal Al Yafai
Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal is strategic disaster for Iran
Azerbaijan now is in control over the entirety of its border with Iran along the Aras river,and while this may be a cause for celebration in Baku, it is viewed with alarm in Tehran, writes Dnyanesh Kamat.
After the pandemic: COVID-19 exposes threat of biological warfare
The global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has shaken confidence in governments’ capacity to respond to threats that the scientific and health communities have long have well aware of. From Asia to Europe to North America, health authorities are struggling to cope, writes Ellen Laipson.
Climate change will still be a threat after COVID-19 is gone
Governments around the world are demonstrating – all too evidently – that they are unable to tackle two major crises at once, writes Jonathan Gornall.
US shale will be first casualty of oil price war
Although the oil price war was triggered by the Russia-Saudi fall-out, US shale will be the first casualty, writes Robin Mills. In the process, the US will learn that producing a lot of oil at high prices is not the “energy dominance” it has made a centrepiece of foreign policy, he argues.
Turkey-Libya Mediterranean deal is about energy and extending Ankara’s influence
Ankara’s moves in the Mediterranean Sea reflect President Erdoğan’s ambitions to make Turkey a leading country. But its unilateralism is unnecessarily aggravating tensions in the region and, as usual, leaves it to Brussels and Washington to sort it out, writes Henri J Barkey.
China’s growing interest in Saudi Aramco is part of a long game
The Aramco public offering gives China an opportunity to gain a foothold at the center of the global oil industry. According to Joseph Dana, the move is part of a longer-term attempt by Beijing to challenge the dollar’s dominance as the world’s universal currency.
Turkey’s incursion into Syria is making the EU and Kurds rethink their friends
The EU may condemn Turkey’s military incursion into Syria, yet it also has Turkey to thank for holding back the migrant crisis. Publicly, Europe wants to send a message. Privately, it knows it cannot say too much, writes Faisal Al Yafai.
The EU’s new migration policy is a gift to the far-right
Far from taking the refugee issue away from the far-right, the EU's new migration policy plan will simply hand the far-right a grievance it can exploit for years to come, writes Faisal Al Yafai.
Air travel growth suggests ‘sustainable’ and ‘development’ are not compatible
Air travel is not the only threat to life on earth, but it is a useful barometer of runaway economic growth and development that, if allowed to continue unmitigated, will irreparably harm the planet, writes Jonathan Gornall.
The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq refinery and the realpolitik of oil
After a Saudi oil processing facility came under attack, attention turned on the immediate effect this could have on oil prices. But the worry should be more over the medium term than the short term, writes Robin Mills.
As the sun sets on oil, the sun will rise on solar power
When shares in Saudi Aramco eventually go public, there will doubtless be a feeding frenzy on what promises to be the largest initial public offering ever seen. More significantly, the move would also signal Saudi Arabia’s recognition that sunset for fossil fuel is just over the horizon, writes Jonathan Gornall.
Gulf crisis is testing a new generation of European leaders
A new generation of EU leaders is grappling with the shipping crisis in the Arabian Gulf in a way that could determine the future military posture of individual countries, and perhaps even of the European Union, writes Faisal Al Yafai.
US-Russia rivalry in the Middle East is now spilling over into the Mediterranean Sea
Most oil and gas experts agree that the East Med Pipeline Project is a pipe dream that cannot compete with cheap Russian gas. But America’s enthusiastic support for it is more about a re-alignment of alliances, and securing energy supply, writes Nour Samaha.