International


Conflict Resources: The Key to Solving Both ISIS and Russian Aggression

Aug 31, 2014 | David Francis, Fiscal Times

The crises in Ukraine and Iraq have little to do with one another. In Ukraine, Russia is exerting its territorial ambitions, while in Iraq, the…


South Sudan: Sudan: Deadlock

Aug 31, 2014 | StrategyWorld

August 31, 2014:  As the South Sudan government and the South Sudan rebels (led by former vice-president Riek Machar) continue the civil war, Intergovernmental Authority…


Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone To Miss Diamond Export Target Due To Ebola Outbreak

Aug 31, 2014 | Albert Robinson, IDEX Online

Sierra Leone Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Abdul Ignosis Koroma said the government would miss its target of exporting $200 million in diamonds this year…


Israel/Palestine: Israel Claims Nearly 1,000 Acres of West Bank Land Near Bethlehem

Aug 31, 2014 | Isabel Kershner, New York Times

JERUSALEM —  Israel laid claim on Sunday to nearly 1,000 acres of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem — a step…


Timor-Leste: Australian Government Wants East Timor Spy Charged

Aug 31, 2014 | Sydney Morning Herald

The Australian government has asked the federal police to investigate if lawyer Bernard Collaery and a former spy can be charged with disclosing classified information after revelations Australia…


China/India: What Dispute? India and China Ignore Land Squabble

Aug 30, 2014 | Tim Sullivan, Associated Press / ABC News

For more than 50 years, it has pitted India against China — a smoldering dispute over who should control a swath of land larger than…


Iraq: Water Wars: The Islamic State and the Mosul Dam

Aug 29, 2014 | Archinect

Water has become a central focus for both the Islamic State and its combatants in the current struggle being waged over the large geographic area…


Afghanistan: NATO Urged to Recognise Natural Resource Governance as Crucial to Afghanistan’s Future Stability and Security

Aug 29, 2014 | Global Witness

NATO’s hopes for stability in Afghanistan – and a lasting legacy from its 11 year combat mission there – will be deeply undermined without action…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds Expand Autonomy as ISIS Reorders the Landscape

Aug 29, 2014 | Helene Cooper and Michael R. Gordon, New York Times

WASHINGTON —  The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has thrown Iraq into crisis, precipitated the ouster of Nuri Kamal al-Maliki as prime minister and…


Iraq: Chalabi Predicts Iraqi Oil Could Net IS up to $150 Million in 2014

Aug 29, 2014 | Nidal al Laythi, Al-Monitor

Former Iraqi Oil Minister Issam al-Chalabi said on Aug. 27 that estimates from  reliable reports confirm that the Islamic State (IS) would reap between $100-150 …


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan Oil Shipments Reach 8.8 Mln Barrels - Turkish Minister

Aug 29, 2014 | Reuters

ISTANBUL Aug 29 (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan has shipped 8.8 million barrels of oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan since May, Turkish Energy Minister…


Myanmar: No Quick Fix for Rangoon Land-Grab Victims: Govt

Aug 29, 2014 | Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy

RANGOON — Rangoon’s divisional government has said hundreds of land-grab cases brought to its attention will not be resolved by the end of its current…


Sudan: Karti Urges China to Increase Investments in Sudan’s Non-Oil Sector

Aug 29, 2014 | Sudan Tribune

August 29, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign minister, Ali Karti, has called on Chinese officials to increase investments in the country’s non-oil sector, while expressing…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Loses Bid to Seize Kurdish Oil Near Texas

Aug 29, 2014 | Cameron Langford, Courthouse News Service

 HOUSTON (CN) - Refusing to let Iraq seize 1 million barrels of oil aboard a tanker in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge found…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Tanker with $100 Million Cargo Goes Missing off Texas Coast

Aug 29, 2014 | Terry Wade and Anna Louie Sussman, The Independent

An oil tanker loaded with $100 million of disputed Iraqi Kurdish crude has disappeared of the coast of Texas in the latest development in a…


Myanmar: Tenasserim to Allot Land for Refugees

Aug 28, 2014 | DVB Media

Government officials of Tenasserim Division [Tanintharyi Region] claimed that refugees residing in a camp in Thailand would soon be able to return to Burma as…


Myanmar: New $480m Solar Power Project Planned

Aug 28, 2014 | Reuters

U.S. investors will help finance a $480 million solar power project in Myanmar's northeastern Mandalay region, which will ultimately provide up to 12 percent of…


Myanmar: Land Prices Skyrocket after Unveiling of Rangoon Development Plan

Aug 28, 2014 | DVB Media

The announcement on Friday that Rangoon’s divisional parliament had approved a proposal to implement a city expansion plan has caused land prices to skyrocket overnight…


Iraq: Jihadists Burn Three Iraq Oil Wells as Kurds Attack

Aug 28, 2014 | AFP

Retreating jihadists set three wells ablaze at a northern Iraq oil field Thursday as they battled Kurdish forces who launched a major attack nearby, officials…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds Recapture Iraq Oil Fields, Advance on Rebel-Held Towns

Aug 28, 2014 | Bloomberg

Kurdish and Iraqi forces recaptured two oil fields and mounted an offensive to retake the town of Zummar, part of a broader bid to recover…


Sierra Leone: Golden Saint Reach Agreement Over Diamond Recovery in Sierra Leone

Aug 28, 2014 | London South East

Golden Saint Resources Ltd Thursday said four yellow stones have been discovered by its Sierra Leone subsidiary, Golden Saint Diamonds.

The company said four yellow stones…


Iraq: Iraq to Appeal US Court Decision on Kurdish Oil

Aug 28, 2014 | Reuters

The Iraqi oil ministry said on Aug. 28 it would challenge a U.S. court decision that stopped U.S. Marshals from seizing some one million barrels…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Solar Ambitions Kickstarted With $480 Million ACO Pact

Aug 28, 2014 | Cathy Chan, Bloomberg

Myanmar will expand its sources of clean energy through an agreement with ACO Investment Group, a U.S.-based private-equity fund focusing on Asian emerging markets, to…


Indonesia/ Timor Leste: State Firms to Set Up Joint Venture on Oil, Gas Development

Aug 27, 2014 | Global Post

Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina planned to establish a join venture company with Timor Leste's state company to develop oil and gas…


Iraq: Access to Oil Makes ‘Islamic State’ a Greater Threat than Al-Qaeda

Aug 27, 2014 | Investor Intel

Iran, the Arab States of the Persian Gulf region and North Africa discovered oil in the first half of the 20th century. They used the…


India/Pakistan: Skirmishes Put Feeling of Wartime on India-Pakistan Border

Aug 27, 2014 | Ellen Barry and Salman Masood, New York Times

JORA FARM, India —  The habits of wartime have crept back into life here along the border between India and Pakistan.In the mornings, villagers stitch…


India/ Pakistan: Fishermen Cross an Imperceptible Line into Enemy Waters

Aug 26, 2014 | The New York Times

Fishermen bustled through a ramshackle harbor, a knot of narrow streets and one-room houses on the edge of Karachi, as they prepared to set out…


Extractive Industries: UK Unveils Draft Rule on Extractive Industry Disclosure

Aug 26, 2014 | The Wall Street Journal

The U.K. unveiled draft rules on Thursday governing how oil, gas, mining and logging companies would disclose the payments they make to foreign governments for…


Iraq: Security Forces Repulse Militants' Attack on Baiji Oil Refinery

Aug 26, 2014 | ITAR-TASS News Agency

Iraq's security forces have managed to repulse an attack launched by militants of the Islamic State grouping on the country's largest oil refinery at Baiji,…


Iraq/ Syria: Islamic State Now Resembles the Taliban With Oil Fields

Aug 26, 2014 | Bloomberg

With its reign of terror over a large population and ability to self-finance on a staggering scale, the extremist group that beheaded American journalist James…