Today’s leading technology companies exercise vast influence over the world order. Their outsized economic, political, informational, and cultural power shapes societies and the lives of individuals. Prominent scholars and policy analysts have described these tech firms as “new governors” that exercise novel forms of sovereignty in a world that is no longer unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar but rather “technopolar”.
In the Middle East, the issue of energy and climate change is characterized by superlatives. Home to the world’s major oil and gas reserves, the region produces a third of the oil consumed worldwide, although it faces increased competition, particularly from North American producers. It comprises states such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar, which have some of the highest CO2 emissions per capita in the world. Their energy consumption continues to increase, supported by some of the highest fossil fuel subsidies in the world. Water consumption per capita is breaking records, and its primary source, desalination, is particularly energy intensive. Economic and demographic growth has given rise to growing national electricity needs. The region is also experiencing first-hand the impacts of global warming, as evidenced by increasing water stress. The amount of sunlight it receives offers huge potential for solar electricity production and could therefore offer a solution to this increased consumption, although currently the electricity mix is still largely dominated by fossil fuels. With the climate emergency growing stronger every day, and climate governance calling for countries to increase their nationally determined contributions ahead of COP26 at the end of 2020, how are the oil-producing states of the Middle East contemplating the diversification of their economies and energy systems? Do Saudi Arabia and the UAE, further exposed to strong geopolitical tensions, have realistic ambitions…
Physicists tend to say that their discipline is a burial ground of misconceived theories. It is quite similar with European countries’ attitude towards Russia. There have been many ideas and good intentions, but most failed. This also pertains to Polish conceptions, of which there have been many. Their failure resulted from the fact that they would usually be situated in the sphere between illusion and wishful thinking. Illusion refers to the assessment of the nature of Russia’s politics, whereas wishful thinking refers to that which could be achieved in politics towards Russia if we live up to the country’s expectations. This was the case for the first two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reappearance of Russia on the European geopolitical scene.
Although Boko Haram originated in 1994 and Nigeria’s first confrontations with the group occurred in 2003, Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram began only in 2010. Although military solutions are not imminent, since mid-2019 Nigeria’s army and Boko Haram’s two main factions, Islamic State-loyal Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and non-aligned Jamaat Ahlussunnah lid-Dawa wal-Jihad (JASDJ), have reached a military stalemate. This article examines the stalemate in Nigeria’s Borno State and whether it can sustain the current status quo in Borno.
Vous devez être connecté pour poster un commentaire.