Europe

By Michael Scollon ( RFE/RL ) – Lost status and a desperate existence in Iran are driving thousands of former Afghan troops — many of them elite commandos trained by the United States — to consider fighting as mercenaries in Ukraine and other battlefields. Many ex-Afghan security personnel accuse the United States of abandoning them […]

Climate Crisis

How Putin’s War and small Islands are accelerating the global Shift to Clean Energy, and What to Watch for in 2023

The Conversation

By Rachel Kyte | – (The Conversation) – The year 2022 was a tough one for the growing number of people living in food insecurity and energy poverty around the world, and the beginning of 2023 is looking bleak. Russia’s war on Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain and fertilizer feedstock suppliers, tightened global […]

Far Right

The Unbearable Whiteness of Being French: Murderer of Kurds ‘William M.’ Treated with kid Gloves

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last Thursday, one “William M.,” a retired French train conductor, went to the Kurdish Cultural center in the 10th Arondissement of Paris with a gun and shot six people, killing three and wounding three others, all Kurds. Some were in a hairdresser’s shop. So write Nathalie Birchem et Denis Peiron […]

Climate Crisis

Ukraine war: Putin has been weaponising energy for years, here’s what to look out for next

The Conversation

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 Crisis

G7 Industrialized Democracies Establish Climate Club with Focus on Industry Decarbonization

Julian Wettengel

By Julian Wettengel | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The G7 group of influential economies have set up an international climate club to support the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, with a focus on pushing the climate-friendly transition of the industry sector. The club is open to other countries and aims to […]

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 […]