Category: Timely Commentary & Analysis

Content

Press and members call

Dec 2, 2019

Atlantic Council press call: Iraqi Prime Minister resigns amid violent protests

By Atlantic Council

On Friday, November 29, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi announced plans to resign after nearly two months of anti-government protests. The nationwide demonstrations, which have been driven by anger over rampant corruption and high unemployment rates, have turned increasingly violent and have resulted in close to 400 fatalities. Following Mahdi's resignation, Abbas Kadhim, C. Anthony Pfaff, Thomas Warrick, and William Wechsler unpack the crisis in Iraq.

Iraq Politics & Diplomacy

EnergySource

Nov 27, 2019

Is Rosneft undermining “maximum pressure” on Venezuela and Iran as Trump looks away?

By Matthew Bryza

US President Donald Trump is conducting policies of “maximum pressure” on two countries, Venezuela and Iran. In Venezuela, Russia’s state-owned oil company, Rosneft, actively undercuts this US policy by helping them circumvent Washington’s tough economic sanctions. Why doesn't Washington apply broad sanctions against the giant Russian company?

Energy Markets & Governance Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion
Oil rig

EnergySource

Nov 21, 2019

Finding a path forward for oil and gas companies in the energy transition

By Reed Blakemore, David Yellen

2019 appears to be ending bleakly for the old guard of the energy sector—recent third quarter (Q3) reporting paints a gloomy picture: across the industry, profits have plummeted despite rising oil production. Observers have blamed those results on several potentially transitory headwinds, but are they actually what's driving the concerning outlook?

Energy Transitions Oil and Gas
Kremlin digital tools

Article

Nov 18, 2019

The Kremlin augments its digital tools for cracking down on protesters

By Givi Gigitashvili

Violent police crackdowns are not the only tactic protesters in Russia can expect, as they have also been subject to an increasing use of digital technologies as tools for intimidation.

Conflict Disinformation
Nord Stream pipe

EnergySource

Nov 18, 2019

Nord Stream 2 poses challenges but also means opportunity for the European Union

By Martin Jirušek

With the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline’s completion date on the horizon, it is becoming apparent that the European Union (EU) is struggling to agree on how the project should be handled. What are the challenges and opportunities the situation present?

European Union Geopolitics & Energy Security
US Capitol building

EnergySource

Nov 14, 2019

Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank is a national security imperative

By Amb. Thomas Graham, Jr. and Admiral Richard W. Mies

The US House of Representatives is voting this week on a long-term reauthorization of the US Export-Import Bank. While a fully functional Ex-Im Bank is important for the competitiveness of many US exporters, it is essential for certain industries of strategic importance, including nuclear energy and space, and US security interests associated with these exports are also linked to the ability of Ex-Im Bank to support them.

Economy & Business Nuclear Energy
TAP pipeline

EnergySource

Nov 14, 2019

Trans Adriatic Pipeline expansion

By Daniel D. Stein

At least some of the energy security value of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) could be in question. While important details remain inaccessible to the public, if Gazprom, a Russian company, is able to book capacity in the expansion of the final leg of the SGC, known as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Gazprom would be able to use a project of strategic importance to European energy security to enhance its own position within European energy markets.

European Union Geopolitics & Energy Security
Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul)

EnergySource

Nov 13, 2019

The Saudi Aramco IPO: A valuation saga

By Private: Jean-François Seznec

The Saudi stock exchange in Riyadh has approved the trading of Saudi Aramco’s shares on the local stock market, signaling a rapid start to the initial public offering (IPO). The various investment banks looking to place and sell the shares to their clients have given widely different, but generally low, value to the company and the shares.

Energy Markets & Governance Energy Transitions

Photo Essay

Nov 7, 2019

A walk through Berlin: Thirty years after the Fall

By John Dunton-Downer

John Dunton-Downer provides a glimpse of Berlin as it celebrates its recovered unity three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Germany

Long Take

Nov 7, 2019

Die Mauer im Kopf: The legacy of division in German politics

By Michael John Williams

Pressures from a new global economy and rising rates of migration have collided with the deeply rooted past of a divided Germany to make political predictability a thing of the past. Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany is still grappling with a division— the Wall in the minds of the people, rather than an actual physical barrier of steel and concrete.

Elections Germany
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