As the first anniversary of the start of the Arab Spring passes by, attention is naturally focused on the political transitions in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, and the quasi-civil war in Syria. Iraq hasn’t attracted too much attention of late, and even the United States’ withdrawal of its troops in December 2011 was a low-key… [Read more]

Turkmenistan has topped the list of the largest overseas markets for Turkish contractors, followed by Libya, Russia and Iraq, according to a recent study by the Turkish Contractors Association. Turkmenistan’s position can be explained by the cultural and ethnic ties Turkey shares with Central Asian states. These were strengthened in the early 1990s, when Turkey… [Read more]

Several developments in 2010 will linger well into 2011. My colleagues and BMI’s Oil and Gas Team see industry majors continuing their push into deepwater drilling and unconventional hydrocarbons, while cash-rich national oil companies keep looking for upstream opportunities. Depressed US gas prices are unlikely to move significantly in 2011, while Asia-Pacific remains the LNG… [Read more]

After eight months of protracted negotiations, Iraq finally appears within reach of forming a new government. Incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s dogged efforts to retain the premiership have succeeded. His State of Law alliance won 89 seats in Iraq’s March 2010 parliamentary elections, and his premiership prospects were boosted by last-minute support secured from conservative… [Read more]

At long last, the Iraq War appears to be over. The US has been winding down its troop presence in Iraq for many months now, and will have reduced this to 50,000 by the end of August from a peak of 170,000 at the height of the ‘surge’ against the insurgency there in 2007. Under… [Read more]

Early returns from Iraq’s national elections suggest that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Alliance is on track to secure the highest number of seats of any party in the next parliament, and that he himself is well placed to retain his post. If Maliki does stay on in his role, this should ensure… [Read more]

As US President Barack Obama ponders whether to send an additional 40,000+ American troops to Afghanistan, the bigger question is whether the US really has enough troops to neutralise its enemies. The US has a demonstrable ability to defeat conventional military forces in places such as Iraq (1991, 2003), Serbia (1999) and Afghanistan (2001), but… [Read more]