By Eugene Kogan, Tbilisi-based defence and security expert

The trilateral military cooperation, begun in November 2017, has all the necessary components to become decisive for the three countries in the eastern Mediterranean in the long-term. In addition, the US is fully behind the three countries, sending a clear signal to Ankara not to provoke conflict in the region.
Turkey, which is still a member of NATO, is not in a position to prevent Israel from cooperating with NATO, although such cooperation is a thorn in the side of Turkey. Although Cypriot military exercises with Israel upset Turkey, it cannot prevent the two countries from cooperating. That is why we see a new military architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean, which will shape the security relations of the three countries in the coming years. READ MORE

• March 26, 2020

British companies on Monday rushed to heed unprecedented calls by regulators to mothball their results so they can better assess how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting their business.

• March 23, 2020

Oil prices extended their decline on Monday, with record low U.S. gasoline prices leading the energy complex lower, as the coronavirus pandemic crushes demand worldwide after travel and industrial activity contracted across the globe in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.

• March 23, 2020

Goldman Sachs said it expected global real gross domestic product to contract by about 1% in 2020, a sharper economic decline than in the year following the 2008 global financial crisis.

• March 23, 2020

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

Two key topics concerning Georgia dominated the attention of the international media and expert community interested in the South Caucasus in past week. One was the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus and the growing number of cases identified in Georgia; the second issue was connected with domestic politics.[…] However, from regional perspective the key event of the past week was the official visit of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Georgia on March 3 - 4. READ MORE

• March 17, 2020

Developing nations’ oil and gas income will fall by 50% to 85% this year to a more than two-decade low if current market conditions persist, the International Energy Agency and OPEC said in a rare joint statement on Monday, citing recent IEA analysis.

• March 16, 2020

Oil prices fell below $30 a barrel on Monday after the worldwide coronavirus outbreak worsened over the weekend, exacerbating fears that government lockdowns to contain the spread of the disease would spark a global recession.

• March 16, 2020

OPEC slashed on Wednesday its forecast for global growth in oil demand this year due to the coronavirus outbreak and said more revisions might follow, underlining the deepening impact of the virus on the market days after a pact on output cuts collapsed.

• March 11, 2020