Eastern Europe

By Thomas Froehlich, King’s College London | – Not since the 1970s oil crisis has the west seen such a focus on energy security. Suddenly in 2022 it became a critical part of the battle for Ukraine. Russian attacks on energy facilities have left millions of Ukrainians without power during a freezing winter. Since it […]

Climate Crisis

Is the New Energy Crisis a Boon for the Green Energy Transition?

Middle East Monitor

By Elif Selin Calik | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The year 2022 saw the energy topic return intensely to the attention of media, political leaders and public opinion after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Russia’s war has had huge impacts on the global energy system, disrupting supply and demand patterns and […]

Featured

If the US Aim in Helping Ukraine is a Rules-Based International Order it must Condemn Israeli Annexation of Syria’s Golan and Occupation of Palestine

Juan Cole

Zelensky Ukraine War Syria Israel Golan Occupation International Law

Climate Crisis

New Solar installations Rocket up by 50% in Europe in 2022, amid Ukraine War Energy Crisis

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The industry think tank SolarPower Europe has concluded that new solar power installations rocketed up in Europe by nearly 50% in 2022, driven in part by the spike in fossil gas prices caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Europe installed 28.1 gigawatts of solar power in 2021. In 2022, Europe […]

Climate Change

Russia’s Ukraine War and Energy Crisis have Scared the World into Turbocharging adoption of Wind, Solar for Power

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new report by the International Energy Agency suggests that the 2022 global energy crisis, caused in part by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, has had the effect of greatly accelerating the world’s rush to green energy. The IEA suggests that its estimates for the pace of the transition to […]

Russia

The Forgotten War: what Russia could win from the reignited Conflict in Syria

The Conversation

Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham | – (The Conversation) – Largely overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, Syria remains a deeply divided and violent country, where military conflict has recently reignited. This new period of conflict in Syria, with Russia, Turkey and Israel all launching attacks, also reflects some of the battle lines of the […]

Russia

Historical Reasons that Turkey is the pivot point between Russia and the US on Ukraine War

The Conversation

By Georgios Giannakopoulos, City, University of London | – (The Conversation) – The war in Ukraine has put Turkey into the geopolitical spotlight. One of Nato’s earliest member states, with a special relationship with Russia, Turkey is attempting to balance its competing interests, as well as increasing its own influence. Meanwhile, Turkey is in the […]

Children

Yemen: Ukraine War, boosting Wheat Prices, has increased Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition for Children

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Russia’s War on Ukraine has added to global inflation along many dimensions, including higher gasoline and fossil gas prices. It has also affected the price of wheat, since Ukraine and Russia used to be responsible for 9% and 19% of global wheat exports. Although wheat shortages of the magnitude that […]

China

A Letter to President Joe Biden: About that pledge you Made of “Diplomacy First”

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment) – Dear Joe, Remember the mid-March snowball fight with some boys in our 8th grade class at St Helena’s School in Wilmington, Delaware? The snow was wet and made for hard, icy snowballs, so I hid my young sister Monica behind a parked car. You joined me against the […]