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MENASource

Mar 31, 2021

Family businesses in the Gulf must not be left behind

By Amjad Ahmad and Farida F. El Agamy

Research suggests that family-owned businesses contribute about 60 percent of the gross domestic product in the GCC countries and employ more than 80 percent of its labor force.

Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2021

When did ‘ally’ become a dirty word?

By Julia Friedlander

The solutions to the twenty-first century’s transnational problems can only come as the result of true collective action. This will require the Biden administration—and US leaders more broadly—to reimagine the architecture of its alliance-building, starting with the talking points.

NATO Politics & Diplomacy

EnergySource

Mar 30, 2021

Offshore wind and labor union partnerships: a boon for an equitable green recovery

By Margaret Jackson and Maria Castillo

The White House just released a plan to “jumpstart” the offshore wind industry in the United States, as one of the major catalysts to fulfill then-candidate Joe Biden’s campaign promise to boost the energy transition and create ten million clean energy jobs in the process. Within the first week of his presidency, President Biden issued […]

Energy & Environment Renewables & Advanced Energy

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2021

How the US can help Colombia surmount dual crises

By Larry Luxner

On the eve of the two-hundredth anniversary of diplomatic ties between the United States and Colombia, there is “good momentum to strengthen the bilateral relationship,” says Colombian President Iván Duque.

Colombia Coronavirus

UkraineAlert

Mar 30, 2021

Why the Black Sea could emerge as the world’s next great energy battleground

By Aura Sabadus

The Black Sea has vast untapped oil and gas reserves along with enormous renewable energy possibilities. This makes it potentially one of the world's great energy battlegrounds in the decades ahead.

Eastern Europe Geopolitics & Energy Security

MENASource

Mar 30, 2021

Some advice to my Syrian and Syrian-American friends

By Frederic C. Hof

President Biden cannot do everything. Nor should he try. But what happens in Syria won’t stay there. It never has and never will. Still, advocates for an American policy in Syria focused on political transition must be sensitive, in their advocacy, to the policy priorities of an administration whose success would be vitally important to the US and the world.

Politics & Diplomacy Syria

UkraineAlert

Mar 30, 2021

Putin plots Ukraine peace talks without Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Ukrainian diplomats have voiced alarm over Russian plans to hold Ukraine peace talks without Ukraine’s participation. The news has revived fears that Moscow aims to bypass Kyiv and reach agreement directly with the West over Ukraine’s geopolitical future.

Conflict France

IranSource

Mar 30, 2021

An Iranian cleric, rights activist, and hacker entered a room—on Clubhouse

By Holly Dagres

It sounds like the beginning of a joke but in reality, that’s what happened recently in a Clubhouse chatroom discussing whether or not the hijab should remain mandatory in Iran.

Iran Middle East

EnergySource

Mar 29, 2021

China’s top-down economic and social reform to achieve carbon neutrality

By Margaret Jackson

Since the approval of China's 14th Five Year Plan, Chinese government and nongovernment entities have released new policies to promote energy system transformation at an unprecedented pace. While the plan only promises incremental climate progress, President Xi Ping has made clear that China will be reforming its entire economic and social system to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.

China Energy & Environment

AfricaSource

Mar 29, 2021

Africa’s real strategic import for the green economy

By J. Peter Pham

Among its efforts to address climate change, the Biden administration has laid out an ambitious agenda for a clean energy revolution. This will require significant quantities of raw materials. And here the African continent has an important role to play.

Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo