Turkey’s dream of becoming the energy hub of the region, benefiting from all the pipelines either up and running or on paper, in Eurasia, is one step closer to reality. Oil companies from Italy, Russia and Turkey have signed an agreement to move ahead with the South Stream gas pipeline on the seabed of the Black Sea. It will be built concurrently with an oil transport system running through Novorossiysk-Samsun-Ceyhan, across the mountains of central Anatolia.
Almost all the fossil fuels will be sourced from Kazakhstan. Russia currently controls the export of approximately 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil and with Kazakh oil production set to dramatically increase, Russia will continue to control their export market. According to the Jamestown Foundation, currently operating fields are approaching peak capacity and the world-class Kashagan offshore field will be coming on stream within the next decade.
While this is well and good for the three men pictured below, one would hope that Kazakhstan will figure a way out of being a subject in other people’s plan’s, rather than just choosing what is expedient.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
