A modest global rally in stocks on Wednesday spurred by a newly unveiled U.S. plan that takes a less confrontational approach to curbing Chinese acquisitions of American technology faded as investors shed optimism, but strong gains in oil limited losses.

• June 28, 2018

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

On June 12, the official launch ceremony of the TANAP pipeline was held in Turkey. TANAP is the key component of the Southern Gas Corridor, which should bring Azerbaijani gas to Europe, circumventing Russia. At the initial stage, annually 6 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied to Turkey and another 10 billion through South Eastern Europe mainly to Italy. In later stages, the volume may be increased due to additional gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field, or potentially involving other gas sources such as Iraq and Turkmenistan. READ MORE

• June 27, 2018

By George Vlad Niculescu, Head of Research, the European Geopolitical Forum

When at the NATO summit in Brussels, on 25 May 2017, president Donald Trump didn’t say that one sentence committing America to continue standing by article 5 of the NATO Charter, he raised eyebrows across Europe. At that time, everyone remembered that candidate Donald Trump raised serious suspicions that his presidency might lead to the end of the West, as we knew it. Nevertheless, everyone who has ever believed in the strength of the Trans-Atlantic link and in the soft power of the Euro-Atlantic values secretly hoped that the end of Pax Americana in Europe wasn’t that close. READ MORE

• June 26, 2018

Oil fell on Monday as investors prepared for an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil to hit the markets after OPEC agreed to raise production and as U.S. equity markets slipped on trade war fears.

• June 25, 2018

The world’s biggest oil and gas players are gathering for a summit in Washington D.C. this week that will be overshadowed by the specter of shifting trade patterns due to a trade dispute between the United States and China

• June 25, 2018

Global stock markets extended losses on Monday as trade fights between the United States and other leading economies worsened, while oil settled lower as the anticipation of sharply higher crude output loomed large.

• June 25, 2018

Oil prices soared on Friday after oil producers agreed to modest crude output increases to compensate for losses in production at a time of rising global demand.

• June 22, 2018

OPEC agreed on Friday to raise oil production by around 1 million barrels per day from July for the group and its allies, an OPEC source said.

• June 22, 2018