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Our favorite longreads and blog posts from the past week.

The daunting reality for the United States and close allies in the Persian Gulf is that their economy has not transitioned away from oil dependency yet.

Was the British Army an effective force in bringing stability and order to Iraq’s Shiite heartland in Basra? Were British troops efficient and effective in confronting the insurgencies they faced in Afghanistan and Iraq? And, as a major Western military power, did they study their enemy?

Our favorite longreads and blog posts from the past week.

OPEC’s recent decision to keep production at its current levels lead to the realization by many investors that the current oil price may become the new norm.

There has been a lot of discussion on how to help Kurdish forces and other opposition forces in the fight against ISIS. One of their most notable and consistent requests has been for help Western weapons systems that are strong enough to neutralize these advanced weapons.

Jan Egeland recently sat down with Reza Akhlaghi of the Foreign Policy Association to discuss the plight of Syrian refugees, which has been reflected in a newly released report jointly produced by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

At a defense conference on Nov. 15, 2014, outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel put in stark terms how the U.S. is losing its dominant status in military technology. In a memo to Pentagon officials launching the Defense Innovation Initiative, Hagel plainly stated, “We are entering an era where American dominance in key warfighting domains is eroding.”

Our favorite longreads and blog posts from the past week.

During President Obama’s recent trip spanning China, Myanmar and Australia, he along with Chinese President Xi Jingping announced what amounts to a historic agreement between the nations to reduce greenhouse emissions (amongst agreements to extend visas and trade deals to eliminate tariffs on IT products).

Our favorite longreads and blog posts from the past week.

In case you haven’t heard, the Republicans had a strong showing in the 2014 midterm elections. They now control both houses of Congress with majorities that they have not seen in decades, setting off the next phase of an era of unusual turmoil in Congressional politics.