Hardliners have been exploiting the recurrent unrest as an excuse to lambaste the government’s economic track record, interfere with its prerogatives in various sectors, and double down on the Supreme Leader’s ‘resistance’ strategy. In his first public reaction to Iran’s recent protests and mounting economic crisis, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attempted to deflect public anger… Keep reading →
The strategic Gulf island on the frontline against Iran faces formidable financial and diplomatic challenges, made more complicated by looming parliamentary elections. The smallest Persian Gulf country is in the throes of big economic problems. A growing debt burden means it needs foreign exchange to avoid a currency devaluation. Its wealthy neighbors—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and… Keep reading →
Recently, we discussed how natural gas and oil production and energy exports were major contributors to robust second-quarter growth by the U.S. economy – by themselves generating nearly half of the increase in U.S. real exports in Q2. Yet, there’s concern that escalating U.S. trade restrictions and looming disputes could threaten global trade and economic growth. We’ve… Keep reading →
As the regime’s strategy for countering the Trump administration continues to falter, will its traditional two-step of provocation and restraint give way to wider escalation? On May 23, in his Ramadan “Tom and Jerry” speech, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made a list of demands on Europe to keep Iran in the nuclear deal. Two months later,… Keep reading →
Russian hackers gained access to the networks of U.S. electric utilities last year, which could have allowed them to cause blackouts, according to federal government officials
The company’s crackdown on fake accounts caused a stir in some regional countries, but the expanding use of encrypted messaging platforms may say more about the people’s sentiment toward their leaders. When Twitter purged millions of fake accounts on July 13, Saudi Arabia seized on the incident as an opportunity to embarrass its rival Qatar.… Keep reading →
Tehran has generally responded to pressure by issuing threats, ramping up its nuclear activities, accepting temporary limits, and, when the heat is turned up, launching cyber, military, and terrorist operations. This PolicyWatch is the first in a two-part series on shaping Iran’s potential responses to increased U.S. pressure on its nuclear activities. Read Part 2, which… Keep reading →
To preserve Libyan unity, the United States should threaten to block any oil shipments not authorized by the country’s internationally recognized government. On June 21, Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, reclaimed two of Libya’s largest terminals after the militia leader Ibrahim Jadhran had seized them earlier in the month. Haftar… Keep reading →
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy and the Italian Embassy, on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, signed an agreement for collaboration on research with the international Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program hosted at DOE’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The SBN program, started in 2015, comprises the development, installation,… Keep reading →
The EU has for some time sought to impose its rules in the Third Energy Package on third country pipelines entering the EU
