In The News

Thein Sein Tackles Chinese Navy Issue

Wai Moe May 26, 2011
Energy helps China maintain manufacturing prowess, steady employment and political stability. During a visit to China, Burma President Thein Sein will discuss the Chinese Navy’s use of Burmese ports, reports Wai Moe for the Irawaddy. China seeks permission to use ports rather than establish a permanent naval base, reports an anonymous source, aiming to patrol the Indian Ocean, protecting oil and...

China Grabs Latin America, Well Ahead of Obama's Outreach

Andrés Cala March 25, 2011
President Barack Obama’s visit to Latin America highlighted China’s expanding role in the continent. China has signed a series of oil deals with Latin American countries even as the US seeks to meet more of its energy needs in Latin America. The biggest challenge for the US might be a proposed “dry canal” across Colombia that would boost China trade for countries along the Atlantic coast and...

Holy Smokes! The Saudis are in Bahrain

Rami G. Khouri March 18, 2011
Protests for reform toppled governments in Egypt and Tunisia, and continue to pressure governments throughout the region. But regimes in Libya, Iran and Bahrain are fighting back. Writing for the Daily Star, Rami G. Khouri notes that entry of Saudi and Emirati troops into Bahrain to assist a Sunni regime in subduing Shiite protests raises many concerns: The intervention could heighten Shiite-...

Turning Old Oil Into New Mileage

David L. Chandler March 18, 2011
Interest in hunting garbage piles for any reusables – a common job in the developing world – has spread to wealthier nations, attracting attention and innovation awards from the world’s most elite universities. Students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have taken the notion one step further. Working with catadores cooperatives in Brazil, a MIT biodiesel team started a project called...

Uganda: Surely, We Are Not As Simplistic as the Tunisians, Are We?

Fredrick M. Masiga January 25, 2011
After economic troubles, high unemployment rates and protests over one man’s cruel death led to quick revolt in Tunisia, other nations engage in self-reflection. College graduate Mohamed Bouazizi was frustrated after authorities beat him and confiscated his vending cart. Left without livelihood or legal recourse, the 26-year-old set himself on fire and ignited his nation’s fury. Public anger...

Sudan Vote May Shift Control of Oil Pumped by China’s CNPC

Matt Richmond, Maram Mazen January 10, 2011
Sudanese head to the polls, casting ballots in a referendum that will decide if the nation divides into two. “The vote is the centerpiece of a 2005 peace agreement ending a civil war that lasted almost 50 years, except for a ceasefire from 1972 to 1983, between the Muslim north and the south, where Christianity and traditional religions dominate,” notes this Bloomberg article. Sudan, under...

The American Leak

Thomas L. Friedman December 7, 2010
The steady release of cables, written by US diplomats, demonstrate a convoluted, counterproductive US foreign policy. The US enters alliances with countries that do not share its expressed values, then tries to deny the differences. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman uses cables about Saudi Arabia by way of example, detailing the contradictions that emerge from US reliance on Saudi oil:...