Intelligence
Middle East
182 reports in this category.
Did Iran and Russia convince Türkiye to halt its Syria operation?
21 Jul 2022
Why is Israel’s government about to collapse?
21 Jun 2022
Will Lebanon and Israel go to war over Israeli drilling in the Karish gas field?
14 Jun 2022
Why is Saudi Arabia investing in its defense industry?
26 May 2022
Is Turkey sacrificing the Khashoggi case to mend ties with Saudi Arabia?
29 Apr 2022
How will Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impact the Middle East?
18 Mar 2022
Is the US blocking all attempts to stop Israel’s attacks on Palestinian civilians?
17 May 2021
What action against Israel will Erdogan’s mobilization of the Muslim world lead to?
14 May 2021
Is Palestine approaching a historic revolution?
12 May 2021
Are Israel’s attacks uniting Turkey and Saudi Arabia?
11 May 2021
Is Israel preparing to invade the Gaza Strip?
10 May 2021
Why are Pakistan and Saudi Arabia trying to repair ties?
7 May 2021
Are Turkey and Egypt on track towards normalizing ties?
6 May 2021
Are the talks between Erdogan and King Salman insignificant in repairing Saudi Turkish ties?
5 May 2021
Is Egypt strengthening its air force to prepare for war with Ethiopia?
4 May 2021
Is there an internal rift within Iran’s government?
3 May 2021
Eastern Mediterranean: A microcosm of regional and global battles
Eastern Mediterranean The Eastern Mediterranean has become a flash-point for the meshing of geopolitics, the struggle for regional hegemony, battles for control of resources, religious soft power rivalry, and blatant interference in the politics of others. The complex and dangerous juxtaposition of multiple conflicting interests broadens the focus beyond Russia, when it comes to meddling in elections, to include countries like Turkey, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. It blurs the lines between multiple conflicts such as the wars in Syria and Libya and the struggle for control of the Eastern Mediterranean’s newly found gas deposits. And it positions contested waters as the latest venue in which Russia and the West battle for influence. Laying bare the multiple disputes being fought on the back of the Eastern Mediterranean with its natural gas reserves of 122 trillion cubic feet resembles peeling an onion. Lining up on opposing sides are Middle Eastern, North African, and Eastern Mediterranean nations, Gulf states, Turkey, Russia, and Europe. Perhaps, most fundamental is the degree to which Europe going forward will be able to reduce its dependence on Russian gas imports. Russia currently satisfies approximately 40 percent of the European Union’s gas needs. The ability to reduce Russian imports with gas from the Eastern Mediterranean potentially would allow Europe to adopt a more forceful stand in the struggle between Western liberalism and Russian civilisationalism that is likely to shape a new world order. EU dependence has so far prompted European nations to temper their defense of Western values against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s civilizationalist* policies that include territory grabs in the Caucasus and Ukraine, intimidation of Central Asian nations, and support for Western far-right, neo-Nazi, and anti-immigration forces designed to weaken liberal democracy and strengthen groups more empathetic to the Russian leader’s worldview. “The bad news is that the Moscow-Washington confrontation will continue; the good news is that there will be some guardrails built around it. . . .The Eastern Mediterranean, however, is emerging as an area where Russia, again, is competing with the West,” said Dmitri Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Center. Mr. Trenin argued that it was the Eastern Mediterranean rather than Ukraine, Crimea, the Baltics, the Arctic, or south-eastern Europe where tension could flare the most. If for some nations like Greece, Cyprus, and Lebanon the struggle to control the Eastern Mediterranean’s resources is primarily about economics, for others, including Egypt and Israel it’s about projecting power. That is no truer than for Russia and Turkey, even if their interests against the backdrop of recently diverging positions on the battlefields of Libya and Syria, may differ rather than converge. Subscribe to read the full article We wish we didn't have to do this, but only paid subscribers can read the full article, Unlike other publishers, we are not the beneficiaries of State funds and are entirely dependent on our supporters to keep KJ Vids functioning. Please subscribe to read the rest of the article. The First 1,000 subscribers will receive a 50% lifetime discount to our content. - Access over 500 videos explaining global politics - Full access to all articles - Vote on future video topics - Secure Questions for Video Q&As Sign Up - https://www.kjreports.com/product/lifetimediscount/
5 Mar 2020
The UAE has outdone Saudi Arabia in diversifying from oil
The UAE has outdone Saudi Arabia in diversifying from oil Saudi Arabia has been trying to diversify its energy sources in the last years, especially under the leadership of Mohammed Bin Salman, with several ambitious projects aimed at diversifying from Saudi Arabia’s economic and geopolitical reliance on oil. In 2018, When Saudi Aramco was on the verge of a deal to buy a stake in an Indian oil refinery, its boss quickly boarded a company jet in Paris and flew to New Delhi, and signed the agreement himself, highlighting its importance to the Saudi rulers. It secured the plans for investing $44 billion into India’s West Coast oil refinery. Furthermore, last summer, OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have discussed resuming oil production in jointly operated fields in the Saudi–Kuwaiti Neutral Zone, Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA said yesterday. The Saudi–Kuwaiti Neutral Zone, or Divided Zone, is an area of 5,770 square km between the two countries’ borders that was left undefined when the border was established in 1922. Saudi and Kuwait had both stopped the output from the oilfields 4 years ago. Therefore, progress is going slower than expected, as Prince Mohammed’s stated goal of being able to “live without oil” by 2020 looks set to be missed. Jim Krane, an energy fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute said: “Saudi Arabia’s oil addiction is as strong as ever…economically, of course, the Saudi economy runs on oil. Oil still dominates GDP, exports and government revenues.” This slow progress means that the Saudi economy will be largely influenced by oil prices for longer than initially planned. Subscribe to read the full article We wish we didn't have to do this, but only paid subscribers can read the full article, Unlike other publishers, we are not the beneficiaries of State funds and are entirely dependent on our supporters to keep KJ Vids functioning. Please subscribe to read the rest of the article. The First 1,000 subscribers will receive a 50% lifetime discount to our content. - Access over 500 videos explaining global politics - Full access to all articles - Vote on future video topics - Secure Questions for Video Q&As Sign Up - https://www.kjreports.com/product/lifetimediscount/
10 Feb 2020