Strategic Abstention: The ‘Axis of Resistance’ Deliberate Inaction in Gaza[Over]
By Fuad SHAHBAZOV, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst
Amid the escalating Gaza war, a striking absence marks the regional conflict landscape: the non-involvement of the ‘Axis of Resistance,’ including Iran and its proxies. Nearly six weeks into the war, these forces have consistently communicated their decision to remain on the sidelines. This inaction comes into sharp focus against the backdrop of Iran’s strategy to leverage non-state actors like Hezbollah and Hamas in its proxy warfare. While Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, clarified their stance in a much-anticipated speech a month into the conflict, the impact of this abstention is profound. Israel, grappling with internal divisions and security vulnerabilities heightened by Hamas’s attacks, finds itself in a precarious position not seen in decades.
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- Tuesday, 5 December 2023, 13:02
The main directions of the state policy of Uzbekistan in the context of improving the country's position in international rankings and indices[Over] Tokhir Khasanov, Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, DSc. in Economics, Associate Professor
Uzbekistan, nestled in the heart of Central Asia, has historically been a melting pot of cultures and civilizations, thanks to its pivotal role in the Silk Road. Its rich tapestry of history reflects a blend of empires, nomads, and diverse cultures that have left their mark over millennia.
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- Tuesday, 28 November 2023, 07:45
Putin and the 2022 Russian Military Conflict in Post-Soviet Lands[Over] By Alan WHITEHORN, Professor Emeritus in Political Science, The Royal Military College of Canada
Coming to power after the break-up of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Lukashenko had ruled Belarus in a highly autocratic fashion for almost three decades, while seeking to navigate his country within Moscow’s sphere of influence. However, the aging leader’s arbitrary rule began to teeter and he faced a major challenge in the election of 2020. When skewed and rigged election results were announced, hundreds of thousands of voters of Belarus peacefully protested their strong objections.
The West echoed moral support to the mass of citizens voicing democratic demands on the streets, but provided little material assistance. Somewhat optimistically and naively, the West trusted that the unarmed people would peacefully prevail over the coercive might of the internal and external dictators in Minsk and Moscow. Putin, by contrast, sensing a vulnerable and weakened regime, provided his fellow authoritarian colleague with external assistance to forcefully crush the peaceful demonstrators. READ MORE
- Thursday, 17 March 2022, 07:54
Why Are Gas Prices So High? [Over] by Dr Jack Sharples (Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and EGF Associate Researcher)
Mike Fulwood (Oxford Institute for Energy Studies)
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We analyse the drivers behind ongoing price rally and offer an outlook for the coming winter. On the global LNG market, unexpected outages meant that growth in supply simply did not keep pace with the increase in demand. Given its role as the ‘balancing market’, European LNG imports declined. This combined with declines in European production and pipeline imports to open a supply gap that could only be met by withdrawals from storage. We conclude that with gas markets noticeably tighter, the ongoing price rally is driven by fundamentals, with an added ‘fear premium’ that the forthcoming winter could be as cold as that in 2020/21. If that proves to be the case, the current price levels will persist, and even rise, while a milder winter could see the market turn slightly more bearish. READ MORE.
- Wednesday, 15 December 2021, 09:22
Nuclear Energy for Uzbekistan: Achieving Decarbonization Targets and Resolving Energy Shortages [Over] Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Kingdom of Belgium
On 29 January 2021 the Brussels-based media outlet EU Today and the Brussels Press Club in Brussels hosted a conference dedicated to the construction of nuclear power plants in Belarus, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Despite the fact that plans for the construction of new power units are being considered at various stages both in the EU member states-Finland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and in the UK, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, etc., the discussion was focused on these countries. Much attention at the conference was paid to the construction of nuclear power plants in Uzbekistan.
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- Wednesday, 7 April 2021, 22:28
Is America Changing the European Power Play?[Over]
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
- Tuesday, 3 July 2018, 10:33
Ukrainian Gas Transit: Still Vital for Russian Gas Supplies to Europe[Over] By Jack Sharples, Research Fellow of the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies and EGF Associate Researcher on the External Dimensions of Russian Gas
With European gas import demand having risen substantially since 2014, Gazprom has dramatically increased its sales on the European market. In Q1 2018, Gazprom reported record daily gas exports to Europe in late February and early March. This Comment addresses the question of how those volumes were delivered to the market, and the extent to which the infrastructure for delivery of those volumes was used, highlighting that, in times of peak European gas import demand, full utilisation of the Nord Stream and Yamal-Europe pipelines left Ukraine as the only transit route with spare capacity. READ MORE
- Wednesday, 16 May 2018, 20:57
Endless Endgame: Whither Russia-West Confrontation?[Over] By Elkhan Nuriyev, BREC Global Energy Associate, EGF Affiliated Expert
The world’s future is currently endangered by numerous fundamental threats, yet Western democracies fear only one – Vladimir Putin. On all geopolitical fronts of the emerging multipolar world the Russian President has smartly backlashed against all collective challenges mounted by the West. Small wonder the West’s incessant fear of Russia’s military power has made Putin the world’s most powerful man. What is currently happening in West-Russia relations is not a new Cold War; it is not even a renewed East-West divide. READ MORE
- Tuesday, 17 April 2018, 23:16
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