MenuIn the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas mega-terrorist attack on Israel and the ensuing Gaza war, which jeopardizes the Abraham Accords, a groundbreaking energy deal between Azerbaijan, a secular Shia-Muslim majority nation, and Israel just took place. Azerbaijan’s state-owned SOCAR company will explore the area in the Mediterranean north of the giant Leviathan field.
Category Archives: Russia & Eurasia
Russia Uses New Arctic LNG To Dodge Energy Sanctions
Vladimir Nekrasov, a prominent executive in Russia’s energy sector who criticized Putin, has had a tragic accident. These unavoidable twists of fate mean that up to 40 of the top managers in Russian energy have died since the war in Ukraine began. Coincidentally, they all commonly express skepticism towards Russia’s energy strategy, its funding streams,
Sinking Permafrost Sinks Pipelines In Russia And Canada
2023 is defined by a string of depressing climate records. Wildfires in Malibu, a strong El Niño that may last through the winter, and many more showcase the perilous state of the climate. Amongst these record highs, it’s not surprising that one of the world’s most unstable environmental resources is literally melting: permafrost. Permafrost is
Putin’s Threats To Zaporizhhia Nuclear Power Plant Endangers Energy Transition
Carl Sagan once said, “The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist-deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.” The near-universal recognition of the futility of an all-out nuclear war led to widespread cuts in nuclear armaments since Gorbachev’s perestroika and the Soviet collapse in 1991. Even anti-communist hawks
Breaking Free: The Nuclear Fuel Alliance Strikes Back At Russian Control
Moscow’s dominant position in the nuclear supply chain grants Russia influence over the nuclear renaissance in the West, vital for the transition to low-carbon energy generation and helps fund its war machine in Ukraine. To redress these challenges, last month the United States, France, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom formed the Nuclear Fuel Alliance (NFA) to
War in Ukraine is creating new Silk Road corridor
In the year after Russia’s 2022 reinvasion of Ukraine, freight volume more than doubled on the Middle Corridor, a transportation network connecting Asia with Europe via rail, boat and highway. In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled a new U.S. approach to Central Asia that stressed the facilitation of the Middle Corridor, which bypasses Russia. This route
The Global Take | Kazakhstan’s Political and Economic Reform| New Lines Institute Event
Dr. Ariel Cohen participated in a panel discussion organized by the New Lines Institute and the International Tax and Investment Center on the strategic implications of Kazakhstan’s political and economic reforms and what Washington needs to learn from Kazakhstan’s pro-reform agenda to increase engagement with the country and other Central Asian states. Watch the video
Putin’s ‘Gambler’ Mentality is a Wild Card in Global Energy Markets
The Cipher Brief recently spoke with Ariel Cohen, director of the Energy Growth and Security Program at the International Tax and Investment Center, about the spillover of the war into a global energy crisis and what that means for 2023, when Cohen says we may experience “the toughest circumstance in Europe probably since World War II.” Read more
Where In The World Are Putin’s Billionaire Cronies?
While Putin may no longer see the utility in showing unity with Russia’s business elite, going from “unshakable unity” in March 2022 to imploring “patriotism over profit” in March 2023, this does not mean they are unimportant. After being banned from traveling to most Western nations, these oligarchs lost 97 billion dollars and counting. Sanctions deeply hurt the
Central Asia: An Emerging Food And Energy Supplier For The World
The West must understand the groundswell of anti-Russian sentiment that is sweeping Central Asia while understanding the structural constraints facing these governments. An Atlantic Council event “How can Kazakhstan and Central Asia power and feed the world?”, for a forthcoming report by Margarita Assenova, Ariel Cohen, and Wesley Alexander Hill elucidates many of these problems