Taking Trump seriously but not literally is the only way
Walking back statements the Trump makes as president is keeping the White House busy
How to judge US President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle the Palestinians of Gaza and ...
The negative impacts of deglobalisation
Globalisation has been a dominant feature of the socio-economic developments of recent decades. Now, it has been showing signs of de-escalation.
For some time now, the view that the unfettered ...
Dramatic departure, but Trump really can’t hurt climate much
“Drill, baby, drill”, exulted the new President of the World (American branch), but he will find that the oil and gas industry isn’t listening. As Darren Woods, CEO of ...
Trump and the divine right to rule
When devising the executive branch of government in 1789 the founding fathers of the American constitution were anxious to avoid creating an all-powerful monarch like the English king from whom they ...
The Middle East: Gaza ceasefire is unlikely to hold
In the 80 hours between Wednesday, January 15, when the Gaza ceasefire agreement was announced, and Sunday, January 19, when it went into effect, Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed 123 Palestinians ...
Egypt’s economic troubles: impact on gas exports from Cyprus
According to the ministry of energy the government is close to approving Chevron’s development plan (FDP) for the Aphrodite gas-field, centered around exports to Egypt using a subsea pipeline, ...
Ceasefire in Gaza: a staged pathway to peace
So why are the Israelis still bombing Gaza?
US foreign minister Anthony Blinken was first on the Gaza ceasefire bandwagon last week. Israel and Hamas are right on the brink ...
Financial crisis showed why banks must be well regulated
Banks play a key role and are inextricably linked to the outlook of the economy, mainly through supporting growth by providing financing to businesses and individuals.
However, as demonstrated during ...
Tectonic shifts in Europe’s natural gas trade and prices
Natural gas prices in Europe have been rising for most of 2024, as a result of increasing gas demand, and are still rising, especially in the aftermath of the ending of ...
Welcome to ‘Uncharted Territory’
New Year is when we do the accounts for the year, and the bad news always gets top billing: how many wars are going on, how big were the natural ...
New Year, new you? How to actually stick to your resolutions
December 31st; the last day of the year, and you’re feeling optimistic about the year ahead. You make a bold resolution: “This year, I’m going to exercise regularly ...
Conflicting Cyprob demands are sides of the same coin
The surrender of sovereignty over the whole of Cyprus is an existential obstacle that no Greek Cypriot leader could surmount
In his traditional Christmas homily Archbishop Georgios of Cyprus expressed ...
Socio-economic inequalities between countries
The award of this year’s Nobel Prize in economics to Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson highlights a fundamental aspect of the global economy, notably inequality between countries. The three scientists ...
Iran: is it finally the end of the line?
Six months ago, at the end of Iran’s presidential election, I finished an article by speculating that the long-lived theocratic dictatorship in Iran may be a lot closer to ...
Playing Monopoly this New Year? So is our energy ministry
Last month, we threw away more than 18 gigawatt hours of solar power – enough to power the average Cypriot household for nearly 2,000 years. This process, referred to as ‘curtailment’, is where ...
US international relations under Trump 2.0
As the old year gives way to the new and a new American president is about to come to power with a mandate to make America great again (MAGA) it ...
Impact of developments in Syria on energy
By Charles Ellinas
Developments in Syria have been precipitous and momentous. Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that deposed al-Assad last Sunday, has ...
What does Cyprus’ Moody’s upgrade mean?
Cyprus’ credit rating was recently upgraded from Baa2 to A3 by Moody’s. The double upgrade reflects, firstly, the improvement in the country’s fiscal indicators. Public debt has fallen ...
Cyprus banks unwilling to fund development
By taking fixed deposits at the second lowest interest rate in the euro area at an average of 1.8 per cent and lending part of these funds at the third highest ...
The road back to Damascus for Syrian refugees
The irony of the overthrow of the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad last Sunday is that he fled to Russia as a refugee after he turned his people into refugees and ...
The future of the Green Deal under the new European Commission
One of the key subjects discussed at the Sustainable Future conference organised by Politico in Brussels this week was how the Green Deal will pan out under the new European ...
Hunter Biden’s pardon simply continues a long tradition
Last week President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter for offences of failing to disclose he was a drug addict to obtain a gun, tax evasion and any federal offences ...
Trump’s policies will have short and long-term economic effects
The election, for the second time, of Donald Trump in the US signals important geopolitical changes and is expected to impact the global economy decisively.
Currently, the US economy presents ...
ICC fugitive Netanyahu to challenge war crimes arrest warrants
Arrest warrants were issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on November 21, 2024 against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes ...