Qatar made a series of secret agreements with its Gulf neighbours in 2013 and 2014 barring support for opposition and hostile groups in those nations, as well as in Egypt and Yemen. The existence of the agreements has been known, but both the content and the documents themselves were kept secret due to the sensitivity of […]
A Trump victory could be followed by a rapprochement with Russia. This could mean lifting of Treasury sanctions on the Kremlin and a boost to investment in Russian energy assets. Does any of that sound bullish to the oil price? More investment in Russian infrastructure surely means more oil capacity from the world’s largest producer, […]
Iran’s heavy reliance on project financing arrangements will have consequences that far outlive the initial terms of the Iranian nuclear agreement, while creating a potentially unique set of incentives for the various parties in the event Iran defaults on its commitments or resorts to old patterns at the expiration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of […]
Markets have soared: the ruble is the best-performing emerging market currency this year, up over 20 percent since late January against the dollar, and equities have posted double-digit gains. Russian markets have benefited from a range of macroeconomic and technical factors—a moderate pickup in oil prices, a search for yield by investors punished by low […]
Since the conclusion of the Iranian nuclear deal last July, the perennial antagonism between Riyadh and Tehran has reached a dangerous pitch, fuelling the violence that rages in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen and the undercurrent of instability that saturates the region. Read Here – Brookings
While the crisis in Ukraine is stuck, recent Russian outreach elsewhere in Europe, including Putin’s Greece trip, has been successful at starting a debate over the utility of sanctions. The public in many European countries remains critical of Moscow, but “business and political elites have increased their interest in cooperating with Russia.” Read Here – […]
Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union to punish President Vladimir Putin for meddling in Ukraine remain a drag on growth. And oil’s decline to a 13-year low has been catastrophic for Russia, where almost 50 percent of government revenue comes from crude and natural gas. Read Here – Bloomberg
…the Iranian insistence that no wine be placed on the table came a few days after the point, on Rouhani’s European tour, when the Italians agreed to cover up some potentially offending nude statues that he might otherwise have glimpsed at an event in the Capitoline Museums, by placing big white boxes over them. The […]
As the cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia heats up, the Barack Obama administration is trying to straddle the fence and not take sides, but its actions tell a different story — they all seem to favor Tehran. Read Here – Bloomberg
Reform of Iran’s cumbersome permit system has come under the spotlight in recent months. Yet, efforts to minimize the number of licensing documents required for doing business in various sectors of the economy have made slow progress due to resistance from state organizations, among other reasons. Read Here – Al Monitor
looking beyond borders 