MenuThe war in Ukraine will have demonstrated the impotence of the United Nations if a permanent member of the Security Council with full veto power becomes a rogue state without consequence. For the havoc it created, Russia must now be evicted from the UN. Read more.
Category Archives: Articles & Blogs
Don’t Expect Energy Sanctions To Stop Iran’s Crackdown
The Iranian government’s violent crackdown on protests stemming from the murder of Mahsa Amini by Iran’s Morality Police is driving the West to levy further sanctions against Iran. The US Treasury Department has already placed extensive financial sanctions on the members of Iran’s Morality Police with the US State Department promising more to follow. With the protests continuing to gain steam as Iran’s
Russia Is Threatening Europe By Attacking Ukrainian Energy
Russia’s targets are not limited to nuclear. A September 12th attack on Ukraine’s second largest thermal powerplant left thousands in major metropolitan areas without power. The attack was a response to Ukrainian counteroffensives, where the Ukrainian military retook over 6,000 sq km of the Russian-occupied territory in the Balakleya, Izyum and Kupiansk regions, and seized the initiative. While this
The Greed And Geopolitics Of The OPEC+ Oil Production Cut
This move is not unexpected. As I wrote here, President Joe Biden’s failure in Saudi Arabia in July to secure more oil production shook Saudi Arabia’s transactional relationship (security for oil) with the USA to its foundations. Saudi Arabia began importing Russian fuel oils for domestic use to free up more crude oil for export months ago, with the
Russia’s Purported Sabotage Of The Nord Stream Pipeline Marks A Point Of No Return
There can now be no negotiated reopening or resumption of deliveries even if the battlefields of Ukraine instantly fall silent. The Russians have achieved their immediate goal, with Reuters reporting “Nord Stream AG said it was impossible to estimate when the gas network system’s working capability would be restored.” This winter, Europe is doomed to face
Russia’s trajectory of hate: A big war against the West coming
Putin, in his Götterdämmerung moment, is fearmongering. In Stalinist propaganda language, he claims that the West “took off their masks and showed their true nature” … “for centuries [the West] wanted to colonize Russia, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union dreamed, but failed, to shatter it into pieces, set off ethnic groups against each other,
Pakistan’s Deluge Is Deepening Its Longstanding Energy Crisis
Rising energy bills and blackouts are not just a product of the devastation caused by the recent floods. They are a consequence of Pakistan’s non-diversified energy strategy and lack of infrastructural resiliency. These floods have shattered an already broken energy system. Read more here
NIMBYism Is A Bipartisan Energy Problem
For better or worse the visual perceptions of energy production drive much of its policy debates. It was as much the ugly sight of fuming coal stacks and the soot on buildings as environmental or health concerns that led to their regulation. Unfortunately, the understandable human impulse to be surrounded by beauty or to avoid ugliness
A Tale of Good Intentions and Unexpected Consequences
Despite Francis Fukuyama’s infamous opinion, history certainly did not end. The imperial collapse was an unintended consequence of Gorbachev’s desire to humanize socialism and save the USSR. He utterly failed in both tasks, but Russia and other Soviet republics were liberated from the Communist nightmare, and the world gained 30 years of relative peace, which is
The Ghosts Of Fukushima & Japan’s Nuclear Turnaround
Kishida and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are investing a lot of political capital and their long-term industrial policy commitment in nuclear energy. Read the full article here.