Number of results to display per page
Search Results
32. Snubbing Matteo Salvini Makes No Sense
- Author:
- Emmanuel Navon
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
- Abstract:
- Despite the fascist roots of Matteo Salvini’s “Liga” party, upgrading relations with the current Italian government serves the national interest because it shall help Israel export it’s natural gas to Europe as well as break the European consensus on Iran and on Jerusalem’s status.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Gas, Political Parties, and Economic Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Iran, Middle East, and Israel
33. Egypt, a future gas supplier to the European Union?
- Author:
- Jan Mazač and Lukáš Tichý
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations Prague
- Abstract:
- The main objective of the external dimension of the EU energy policy in line with the Energy Union strategy is primarily to ensure energy security by diversifying external energy supplies, transport routes and suppliers, mainly in the gas domain. Egypt’s recent offshore and onshore gas discoveries increased its natural gas reserves estimate. Its natural gas production is thus expected to double in 2020 and transform the country back into a gas supplier in the eastern Mediterranean region. The European Union (EU) should thus strengthen its relations with Egypt to allow its gas production to reach European markets.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Markets, Oil, European Union, and Gas
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, North America, and Egypt
34. The Chinese Betting Can Iran Develop Phase 11 of the South Pars Field?
- Author:
- FARAS
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
- Abstract:
- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has replaced Total of France as a major operator in the development of phase 11 of the South Pars gas field. This is a substantial gain for the Iranian government, which strives to lure international investors to shore up its economy following the withdrawal of most foreign companies from the market due to US sanctions in last August and November. However, the project appears to hit many hurdles, including the Chinese company’s fears of heavy US fines or escalation of the US ongoing trade war against the county in the coming period.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Government, Oil, Sanctions, Gas, and Trade Wars
- Political Geography:
- China, Iran, Middle East, and Asia
35. ETHICAL COMMITMENTS AND RAISON D’ETAT IN RENTIER STATES: ASYLUM-SEEKER POLICIES IN THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL AND CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS DURING THE REFUGEE CRISIS
- Author:
- Farkhad Alimukhamedov, Laurent A. Lambert, and Hisham Bin Hashim
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternative Politics
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- The international migrant crisis made headlines during summer 2015 and challenged the national asylum systems of many countries worldwide. Going beyond academic circles, hot debates on migrants and the role of asylum highlighted the gap and paradoxes that exist between claimed values of solidarity on the one hand, and the restrictive policies and regulations towards asylum seekers on the other hand. This paper documents this tension in oil and gas exporting states, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Central Asian Republics (CAR). It questions the claimed regional, ethnic and/or religious ties and the borders that have been closed to most asylum seekers from Syria and Afghanistan, who are presently living in poorer (oil and gas deprived) neighboring countries. This paper argues that in a time of low oil revenues and fiscal difficulties, rentier states give priority to the Raison d’Etat over any form of transnational solidarity and commitment to international human rights agreements and charters. New and creative institutional arrangements are needed to deal with the global refugee crisis, as traditional solidarities are, in both regions as well as in other rentier countries, victims of the modernization of politics and its uncaring redefinition of state interest in times of low oil revenues.
- Topic:
- Migration, Oil, United Nations, Refugees, Gas, and transnationalism
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Central Asia, Middle East, Asia, and Syria
36. The Eastern Mediterranean New Dynamics and Opportunities for Cooperation
- Author:
- Nimrod Goren, Panayotis Tsakonas, Gabriel Mitchell, Muriel Asseburg, Valeria Talbot, and Ron Adam
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
- Abstract:
- The Eastern Mediterranean - New Dynamics and Opportunities for Cooperation: Presentation of the final results of an international working group led by the Mitvim Institute in the framework of the EuroMeSCo Network’s ENI Project. Opening Remarks and Chair: Dr. Nimrod Goren, Head, Mitvim - The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies; Collective Security Schemes in the Eastern Mediterranean: Prof. Panayotis Tsakonas, Professor of International Relations, University of the Aegean; Research Associate, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP); Regional Implications of Gas Findings in the Eastern Mediterranean: Mr. Gabriel Mitchell, Policy Fellow, Mitvim - The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies; The War in Syria and its Effect on the Eastern Mediterranean: Dr. Muriel Asseburg, Senior Fellow, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP); Ms. Valeria Talbot, Co-Head, Middle East and North Africa Centre, Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI); Amb. Ron Adam, Special Envoy on Energy, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, War, Gas, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Mediterranean
37. From Blue Stream to Turkish Stream: An Assesment of Turkey’s Energy Dependence On Russia
- Author:
- Bahadır Kaynak
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- AURUM Journal of Social Sciences
- Institution:
- Altinbas University
- Abstract:
- Turkey started imports of natural gas from Russia before the Cold War ended, establishing the basis of an important relationship for decades to come. Construction of Blue Stream pipeline was a major landmark after which Moscow consolidated its position as the major supplier for Turkish market. Despite efforts to dilute Russia’s dominance in natural gas imports, Gazprom still controls more than half of Turkey’s total consumption today. Turkish Stream pipeline, that will directly link Russia with Turkey, is being constructed under these circumstances even though the project does not solely target Turkish consumers but aims to reach European market in transit from Turkey. Two decades after the signing of Blue Stream contract, a comparison between those projects may explain how Ankara has fared with its energy dependence on Russia.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Oil, Gas, Pipeline, and Energy Dependence
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean
38. LEBANON IS BECOMING A NEW OIL AND GAS PRODUCER UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYES OF ITS CIVIL SOCIETY
- Author:
- Laury Haytayan
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternative Politics
- Institution:
- Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
- Abstract:
- This short article is an overview of the recent oil and gas developments in Lebanon with a focus on the role of civil society in holding the decision makers accountable. From one side, it highlights the governance challenges and political uncertainties facing Lebanon. Corruption, ineffective oversight bodies and political deadlocks are some of the many challenges facing the country. From the other side, it puts emphasis on the role of civil society as the alternative oversight body capable of overseeing the management of the sector. A strong and informed civil society has a role in taking a seat on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) multi-stakeholder group, in assisting the government in formulating policies and in informing the citizens about the many complex issues related to the oil and gas sector in the country.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Oil, Gas, and Economic Development
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Lebanon, and Beirut
39. War and the Oil Price Cycle
- Author:
- Amy Myers and Jaffe Jareer Elass
- Publication Date:
- 01-2016
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Oil has shaped international conflict for decades. According to one estimate, twenty-five to fifty percent of interstate wars between 1973 and 2012 had oil-related linkages. 1 But the cyclical nature of oil’s contribution to global conflict is not well understood. Not only are oil prices cyclical, but the geopolitics of oil are linked inexorably to the same boom and bust price cycle. Military adventurism, proxy wars and regional pathologies in the Middle East expand and contract with the ebb and flow of massive petrodollar accumulations related to the oil price cycle. The massive inflow of petrodollar revenues when oil prices are high creates disposable incomes that can be easily dispensed on regional arms races, especially since oil consuming countries like the United States are incentivized to increase arms sales as a means of solving oil import related trade deficits. Besides transferring wealth from industrialized countries to oil producers in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region and Russia (and stimulating renewed drilling for oil and gas in North America), high global oil and natural gas prices also slow global economic growth and encourage energy conservation. This causes petroleum demand to slow globally, lowering oil prices. Social and political problems in the region reemerge as oil prices recede. Regional governments have fewer resources to spend on restive populations that have become accustomed to generous handouts enabled by high oil prices. Job creation and visible social programs slow, dissatisfaction rises, and the consequences of economic downturns incite support for militants. Ensuing instability forces governments to use newly purchased arms, which ironically begins the cycle yet again, as new conflicts disrupt oil supplies. In this manner, the world experiences perpetuating patterns of military conflict, followed by oil supply crises, and accompanying global financial instability. In effect, the Middle East resource curse has become globalized. The challenges this is presenting on humanitarian, security and economic fronts have become increasingly dangerous. The arms race that has accompanied the rise of oil prices over the 2000s has been no exception and is now all the more complicated due to the violent participation of sub-national radicalized groups that are less susceptible to diplomatic pressures or initiatives. In this emerging geopolitical context, the rise of violent subnational groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda are increasingly putting oil infrastructure at risk, laying the groundwork for a future oil crisis that may prove harder to solve than in the past. As borders and ruling institutions have become contested, so has control of the region’s major oil and gas facilities. Initially an outgrowth of disunity inside Iraq, the conflict over oil and gas facilities is now accelerating across ungoverned territories, with important long-term consequences for global energy markets. Mideast oil and gas production capacity, along with surface facilities, are increasingly being damaged in ways that will make them hard to repair. Export disruptions, which were once sporadic, are becoming a more permanent feature of the civil war landscape. The level of destroyed capacity is currently estimated at about 2 million b/d and rising.2 The longer Mideast conflicts fester, the more that infrastructure could become at risk. There is an additional element to this oil and war story that links structurally with the oil boom and bust cycle. As oil prices recede, along with a decreased demand for oil and accelerating regional conflict, wealthy oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, are often tempted to use large oil production capacity as a strategic asset. They flood the market with increased supplies in order to lower prices, thereby hurting geopolitical rivals. This price war strategy, which was notably present during the prolonged Soviet war in Afghanistan and the eight year Iran-Iraq War, temporarily ameliorates the short run effects of war on surface export facilities through excessive production rates. In addition, it lays the seeds for the future uptick in the oil market, by discouraging investment in future oil productive capacity outside the Middle East when prices are extremely low. In the case of the 2000s, the destruction caused by ISIS on the oil sector in many locations around the Middle East, combined with expected losses in investment in other parts of the world (like Canada’s oil sands and the Arctic due to current low oil prices), may be creating the conditions for a future oil supply crunch. This has major implications on U.S. policy. This article asserts that the United State would be, in light of these circumstances in the Middle East, unwise to dismantle its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as has been suggested on Capitol Hill. It would be similarly unwise for the United States to lose focus on the importance of conservation efforts in the transportation sector which has both national security and climate benefits. The United States would benefit strategically from a reevaluation of its ban on oil exports. Finally, the United States should place a greater emphasis on conflict resolution in troubled states. By resolving internal conflicts over the distribution of oil revenues, the United States can better pave the way for long-term solutions whereby those same revenues can be integrated into national budgets in ways that brings economic prosperity to populations instead of rising military expenditure.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Oil, Military Strategy, Gas, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, North America, and Persian Gulf
40. The Business of Peace through Green Energy: The HomeBiogas Story
- Author:
- Yair Teller
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues
- Abstract:
- Yair Teller discusses how he is using his company, HomeBiogas, as a mechanism for peace building, sustainable development, women’s empowerment, and improvement of the quality of health and life for citizens of developing countries. Yair Teller is chief scientist and co-founder of the HomeBiogas Company based in Netanya, Israel. HomeBiogas produces a household renewable energy appliance that recycles kitchen waste into cooking gas and organic fertilizer. Profits from sales to suburban customers and a successful crowd-funding campaign are used to support donation of HomeBiogas units to economically disadvantaged Bedouin, Palestinian, and Ugandan families for alleviation of poverty. The work of HomeBiogas has been recognized by the UN and the Peres Center for Peace.
- Topic:
- Development, Environment, Science and Technology, Women, Gas, Business, and Green Technology
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North America, and United States of America