Global oil prices opened the new year on a high note, reaching three-year peaks by mid-January, spurred on by robust winter demand growth, supply outages, and the strong commitment by OPEC and its non-OPEC partners to maintain production curbs through the end of 2018. Oil prices have increased around 10 percent since the producer alliance extended its pact to rein in supplies for the full year. Benchmark prices are currently a steep 25 percent higher than average 2017 levels, with international Brent crude trading at around $68-70 per barrel (/bbl) and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) in a $62-64/bbl range. Read more
مع انتهاء السنة الأولى للرئيس دونالد ترامب في البيت الأبيض، وبعد النكسات العسكرية التي الحقتها الولايات المتحدة وحلفاؤها السوريون بتنظيم "الدولة الإسلامية" بما في ذلك استئصال الإرهابيين من "عاصمة" الخلافة المزعومة في مدينة الرقة السورية، أعلنت الولايات المتحدة للمرة الأولى أنها ستُبقي قواتها العسكرية التي يزيد عددها عن الفي عنصر في شمال شرق سوريا إلى أجل مفتوح
In addition to original content, AGSIW.org in Arabic is regularly updated with new Arabic translations of AGSIW's analysis. Recent translations include:
On January 18, AGSIW hosted Non-Resident Fellow Peter Salisbury for a discussion of his Chatham House paper, “Yemen: National Chaos, Local Order.” The conversation was moderated by AGSIW Executive Vice President Stephen A. Seche. Ambassador Gerald M. Feierstein, director for Gulf affairs and government relations at the Middle East Institute, joined the conversation as a discussant. Read more
In the Media
Speaking with The New Yorker, AGSIW Executive Vice President Stephen A. Seche noted that since 2002, the United States had spent over $150 million on military equipment for former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s forces. Also, on Dubai TV, Seche discussed U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s first year in office, in terms of both domestic and foreign policies.
Speaking with The National, Visiting Scholar Yasser Elsheshtawy, founder of the Urban Research Lab at United Arab Emirates University, commented on Dubai as a city: "Dubai is a city like any other in the word, a place of daily encounters, mundane interactions and spontaneous events. These spaces evoke a much more humane city, a city where people create a home of sorts, even if it is only temporary."
Global Oil Markets Set to Strengthen Further in 2018
Yemen: National Chaos, Local Order
