EPOS Insights

Last October 2017, the Future Investment Initiative started. It was an event organized by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and sponsored by King Salman, in Ryiad, the capital of Saudi Arabia. In that occasion, Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of the Kingdom, gave a sensational speech in which he underlined the necessity for his country to go back to a moderate and open Islam. «Saudi Arabia wasn't like this before 1979. We need to get back to how we were before. We need to return to a moderate Islam that is open to the world, to all religions, to all traditions and to everybody». However, is this a sincere aim or a merely paying lip-service to reach other goals, such as a bigger economic development? In the following article by Ilaria Bertocchini, we try to answer these questions, analysing the context step by step

Epos converses with Dr. Pierre Berthelot

EPOS Insights

With the Trump presidency, relations between Russia and the US have become a great unknown for Europe and the world, but a huge opportunity too. Europe and the world await the results of the Trump-Putin meeting that is supposed to take place in the months to come. There are plenty of challenges on the table, and perhaps Trump’s hyper-realist attitude will contribute to making some sort of settlement between the United States and Russia possible, resulting in a substantial improvement in relations between the two countries and of international relations in Europe and in the world as a whole. In the following exclusive article for EPOS, Gregorio Baggiani points out and discusses the actual possibilities of finding a difficult compromise between the parties and the obstacles that could come in the way of a possible agreement. The article focuses on the various regional scenarios that characterize bilateral relations between the US and Russia.

EPOS Insights

Gazprom-European Commission relations have been in a state of ferment in recent months because of the investigation into Gazprom that began on 4 September 2012, with charges against it of abusing a dominant market position. This took place after the introduction of the so-called "Third Energy Package" by the European Commission. The package calls for an 'unbundling' between gas distributors and gas producers to allow access to energy transportation to other companies, the so-called 'third parties', and avoid problems regarding monopolies or abuse of dominant market positions and price-fixing collusions. In this exclusive article for EPOS Gregorio Baggiani investigates and focuses on the issue, depicting the scenario and analysing all the positions in the field

by Franz Gustincich (EPOS)

EPOS Insights

Since the outbreak of the severe crisis in Ukraine at the end of 2013, Romania and Bulgaria have played a role of great importance as far as the control of the Western Black Sea in NATO is concerned. Romania is afraid of the destabilization of Moldova, due to the possible incorporation of Transnistria, Moldova's separatist republic with a majority of Russian or Slavic population into the Russian sphere of influence. In the following article, Gregorio Baggiani analyses all the political involvements and interests of the South-East European countries in the Ukrainian crisis, focusing on the relations among Russia, Europe and NATO, and highlighting the qualitative difference of the strategies compared to the past, until the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis

EPOS Insights

In the following exclusive article for EPOS, Idrees Mohammed discusses Turkey's attitude towards Kobane, the Syria's Kurdish town attacked by the jihadists of the Islamic State in the last weeks. He analyses the reasons why Turkey, although had refused to act in Kobane directly, has allowed Peshmarga passage to the town. He focuses on all the political relations between Turkish-Kurdish party and Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish parties, and the relations between Turkey and its neighboring countries and between Ankara and the West. Idrees Mohammed is an expert in International Relations and Kurdish affairs. His MA thesis was on Turkey's policy towards Kurdistan Region. He is now focusing on Turkey's policy towards Kurds, including Syria's Kurdish. He teaches International Relations in University of Duhok’s department of Political Science

EPOS Insights

Russia-Afghanistan relations date back to the 19th century. The Soviet-Afghan War of 1979-1989 still insistently projects its shadow between Russia and Afghanistan, making it quite difficult for the two countries to establish new relations. In the following article, Gregorio Baggiani analyses the current relations between the two countries, focusing on the interests of Moscow in Afghanistan and the attitude of Afghanistan towards the big Euro-asian country. The author points out and discuss clearly Russia's role in the great game in Central Asia