Chinese President Xi Jinping with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Tehran, January 23, 2016 - After decades of distance, China is moving closer to the region’s sectarian feuds — and its vital oil reserves At the start of 2016, prospects … [Read more...] about China’s New Grand Strategy for the Middle East*
Oil supply
Energy: let’s go!*
The markets - including old-fashioned American technological know-how - has almost turned the Obama Administration's original energy policies 180 degrees. But there is still a lot to be done. And it will require the cooperation of a Congress, too … [Read more...] about Energy: let’s go!*
Obama’s ISIS Legacy*
Presidential candidate and billionaire businessman Donald Trump has the right idea regarding how to stop ISIS. "I would knock out the source of their wealth, the primary source of their wealth, which is oil," he told MSNBC. A year into it, the … [Read more...] about Obama’s ISIS Legacy*
Weekly Review, July 20-24, 2015
Left: The supreme leader (centre) told supporters that US policies in the Middle East are diametrically opposed to Iran’s policies, credit: BBC Congress Must Hold Obama Accountable for His Deception Over Iran; By lying and withholding information … [Read more...] about Weekly Review, July 20-24, 2015
Iran: The Closer You Look, The Worse It Gets*
Left: Khamenei - the deal was only about nuclear issues, Iran "won't let foreigners interfere with our affairs." (Photo : Twitter Photo Section) - Close examination of the nuclear agreement with Iran reveals just how much it will damage the West … [Read more...] about Iran: The Closer You Look, The Worse It Gets*
Iran’s Nuclear Framework: Insights and Recommendations*
President Barack Obama speaks the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 2, 2015, about the breakthrough in the Iranian nuclear talks. The president heralded a framework nuclear understanding with Iran as an "historic" … [Read more...] about Iran’s Nuclear Framework: Insights and Recommendations*
The Iran Deal Through an (Oil) Glass Darkly
The profit margins Big Oil requires are no longer to be made in Saudi Arabia but in Iran and Iraq. Once the US concludes a nuclear deal with Iran, Big Oil will see to it that it sticks, and Washington can turn its attention to the true cause of … [Read more...] about The Iran Deal Through an (Oil) Glass Darkly
Can Saudi Arabia Form a United Sunni Front?
Left: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (r) with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Riyadh, March 2, 2015; picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency; AFP Photo/SPA/HO The attempt to establish a Sunni pact against the background of the … [Read more...] about Can Saudi Arabia Form a United Sunni Front?
Iran: Why?
Left: Obama Sends Iran a Nowruz Message, Calls Nuclear Talks a 'Historic Opportunity' Why is one of the world’s poorest countries [40% living in poverty, halfway down on list of countries in per capita GDP] building capital-intensive nuclear power … [Read more...] about Iran: Why?
Plunging Oil Prices: The Challenge for the Gulf Oil Economies
Left: A photo released by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) on December 24, 2014, shows KNPC's new LPG TRAIN-4 project, which processes 800 million cubic feet of natural gas, 40 kilometres south of Kuwait City Despite progress in several … [Read more...] about Plunging Oil Prices: The Challenge for the Gulf Oil Economies