12 April 2019 / by peter / Uncategorized
On March 27, Algeria’s Ministry of Defence issued a communiqué announcing that an Army detachment, acting in coordination with the police, had broken up a three-man “terrorist cell” in the western city of Oran the previous day, seizing a submachine gun, two hunting rifles, knives, a pair of binoculars and a GPS device in […]
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Can MENA’s critical minerals save Europe’s ‘green transition’?
16 January 2023 / by peter / Uncategorized
Throughout what might be termed the ‘long 20th century’, energy security boiled down essentially to ensuring access to adequate and affordable supplies of fossil fuels. 21st century energy security, by contrast, will increasingly mean ensuring access to technologies that unlock renewable energies – and to the essential inputs for those technologies. As Europe begins to […]
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Some thoughts on the Ukraine war, the energy transition and implications for MENA oil & gas producers
23 May 2022 / by peter / Uncategorized
ONE: RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE IS A 9/11 MOMENT Three months into the war in Ukraine, it is becoming clear that the launch of Vladimir Putin’s ‘special military operation’ is a new 9/11 moment. Not because it is uniquely spectacular – few people will remember where they were and what they were doing when the […]
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MID-EAST REGIONAL RIVALRIES : FROM THREE-WAY COLD WAR TO REGULATORY ARMS RACE?
30 November 2021 / by peter / Uncategorized
‘Eastern Winds’ missiles rained down on the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Pasdaran’s Badr airbase, as RSAF Tornados pulverised the Iranian airforce before it had even had the time to scramble. Abrams tanks rolled off Saudi landing craft and thundered north to Tehran in their hundreds. Elated crowds thronged the streets of the Iranian […]
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COVID-19: WILL THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA GO HUNGRY?
17 April 2020 / by peter / Uncategorized
With the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc with global supply chains and prompting local outbreaks of hoarding and panic buying, there are mounting concerns that some Middle East and North African countries might soon be facing food shortages. Take Saudi Arabia. On April 6th a Saudi airlines pilot tweeted that his plane was about to take […]
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Coronavirus in MENA: first thoughts
6 March 2020 / by peter / Uncategorized
Since acknowledging its first cases of Covid-19 coronavirus infection in the holy city of Qom on February 19, the Islamic Republic of Iran has emerged as (officially at least) the third most severely afflicted country in the world in terms of fatalities after China and Italy, and at the same time an important staging-post for […]
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‘Happy birthday MBS’
3 September 2019 / by Hazem Eseifan / Uncategorized
What the twitter celebration of MBS’ birthday tells us about the transformation of the Saudi regime The hashtag “birthday of the leader of renewal”[1] has been trending on Saudi twitter since August 31, celebrating the 34th birthday of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. This is highly unusual and also telling of how MBS […]
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AQMI, the Defence Ministry and the Hirak
29 July 2019 / by peter / Uncategorized
In a statement dated July 16 AQMI, denied Defence Ministry claims that five terrorists “who were plotting to target peaceful demonstrations” had been arrested in the eastern wilaya of Batna. Two days earlier the Defence Ministry had announced that the army had arrested five people “who were not on wanted lists” between July 3 […]
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Will God have mercy on Morsi?
28 June 2019 / by Hazem Eseifan / Uncategorized
For people on the Salafi-jihadi spectrum the answer is far from obvious, and the debate around it is revealing of some broader trends within the movement. By Hazem Eseifan and Peter Cross On June 18, the sixth instalment of an occasional series entitled “the Student Asks and the Sheikh Answers” was released in […]
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Is war between the US and Iran likely?
21 June 2019 / by Hazem Eseifan / Uncategorized
By Hazem Eseifan A friend asked me last week if I thought war between Iran and the US was likely. “Look,” I replied, “Saudi Arabia and Israel want America to fight Iran on their behalf, and America is looking for someone to fight Iran on its behalf”. Saudi Arabia, already bogged down in Yemen, certainly cannot take […]
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ALGERIA : WHERE IS AQMI?
12 April 2019 / by peter / Uncategorized
On March 27, Algeria’s Ministry of Defence issued a communiqué announcing that an Army detachment, acting in coordination with the police, had broken up a three-man “terrorist cell” in the western city of Oran the previous day, seizing a submachine gun, two hunting rifles, knives, a pair of binoculars and a GPS device in […]
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