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Global Energy Forum

Jan 12, 2019

State Department official: new US diplomatic efforts built around energy

By David A. Wemer

Energy policy will be a key pillar in two of the Trump administration’s new diplomatic efforts: the Middle East Strategic Alliance and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific initiative.

Geopolitics & Energy Security International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 12, 2019

China is fueling up on LNG, but will it last?

By David A. Wemer

China is in the first phase of a comprehensive energy transition, during which time cleaner sources of energy—such as natural gas—will be vital.

China Energy Markets & Governance

Global Energy Forum

Jan 12, 2019

United States determined to drive Iran’s oil exports down to zero

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United States is determined to drive Iran’s oil exports down to zero in its effort to maximize economic pressure and force Tehran back to the negotiating table.

Arms Control Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Global Energy Forum

Jan 12, 2019

ADNOC announces new oil and gas exploration licenses at Atlantic Council’s 2019 Global Energy Forum

By David A. Wemer

The United Arab Emirates Minister of State, Sultan Al Jaber, said the decision to open the new offshore blocs was part of ADNOC’s “Oil and Gas 4.0” strategy, which aims to use innovative technologies and international partnerships to position the UAE as a key energy exporter.

Geopolitics & Energy Security Oil and Gas

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2019

Macedonian parliament endorses name change

By David A. Wemer

“Today, the people of Macedonia secured their future and assured their place in the heart of Europe,” Atlantic Council Executive Vice President Damon Wilson said.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2019

Lessons from Congo’s 2018 election

By Pierre Englebert

Although the situation is likely to remain fluid for a while, it is already possible to draw some important lessons from these elections and use them to inform some scenarios for the future. 

Corruption Elections

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2019

“The future looks dark” as Maduro begins second term in Venezuela

By David A. Wemer

The United States, Canada, the European Union, and most of Latin America’s major economies have refused to recognize Maduro’s election and are undertaking a sustained external pressure campaign against the regime.

Corruption Elections

New Atlanticist

Jan 11, 2019

Memo to Congress: treasury’s plan to lift sanctions on Russian oligarch’s companies is a good one

By Brian O’Toole and Samantha Sultoon

US politics should not stand in the way of effective, technocratic work by the professionals who are charged with executing US government sanctions policy on Russia.

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion Russia

SyriaSource

Jan 11, 2019

Winter storm in Arsal, Lebanon devastates vulnerable Syrian refugee communities

By Mohammad Abdulssattar Ibrahim, Tom Rollins, and Madeline Edwards from Syria Direct

A winter storm currently sweeping across the region has hit Lebanon hard, leaving tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the country without proper assistance and shelter. While flooding has inundated and destroyed informal tent settlements dotting the fields and countryside of the Beqaa Valley—a mostly flat, agricultural lowland with Lebanese mountains to the west and the Syrian-Lebanese border to the east—conditions have been particularly poor in northeastern Lebanon’s Arsal region.

Middle East Syria

IranSource

Jan 11, 2019

Iran’s Reform Camp Is in Crisis

By Shahir Shahidsaless

The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, can hardly be billed as a reformist. For that reason, he maintained his position as Iran’s Supreme Leader’s confidante while acting as his representative in the Iranian Supreme National Security Council for twenty-three years, from its inception until his first term election as president in 2013. Rouhani also escaped unscathed […]

Iran