96 Items

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News

Harvard energy fellow assists disaster relief in Haiti

| Jan. 20, 2010

EarthSpark International, a U.S.-based nonprofit that operates in Haiti, co-founded by Dubai Initiative Fellow Justin Dargin, is raising money to send solar lamps to the country to assist in disaster relief efforts. The organization is working with a coalition of fellow Clinton Global Initiative members to coordinate the supply and distribution of solar-powered products in Port-au-Prince.

Paper

Securing the Peace: The Battle over Ethnicity and Energy in Modern Iraq

This article examines the legal and political impediments to the Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) exploration and production contracts, which the central government in Baghdad has refused to recognize. The newly established Iraqi national constitution significantly opened as many petroleum-control questions as it resolved. Negotiated in 2005, the constitution not only separated branches of government, but established Federalism as its lodestar. When faced with unresolved issues over regional and national control over petroleum resources, however, International Oil Companies (IOCs) function in an ambiguous legal environment that fails to clearly distinguish between federal and regional powers.

Policy Brief

The Ties that Bind: the Dolphin Project and Intra-GCC Relations

Qatar was the force behind the creation of the Dolphin Project (Dolphin), a much reduced form of the pan-GCC pipeline, envisioned at the November 1989 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit meeting as the most ambitious domestic Middle Eastern gas project ever undertaken. As originally conceived, a transnational pipeline was to weld the national gas grids of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE into a single integrated bloc. Qatar's enormous North Field, the largest associated natural gas field in the world, became the centerpiece of this vision.

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Presentation

From Crisis to Opportunity: A Look at the Arabian Gulf Energy Revolution

There has been no other region in the world that has modernized as quickly as the Arabian Gulf region. In the space of one generation, the countries of the region evolved from being some of the least developed areas in the world, to being the energy superpowers that we know of today. However, this transition has been not been easy, nor has it been without its obstacles. The presentation focuses in-depth as to how the countries in the Arabian Gulf are transforming their enormous revenue inflows to technological advances, seeking to position themselves as global technology and education leaders. In many ways, the scope of the Gulf transformation rivals the era of Manifest destiny in North America. The presentation will also explain how the Gulf countries are taking advantage of the financial crisis to restructure their energy markets.

The King Abdullah University of Science & Technology under construction in Saudi Arabia. The project is part of King Abdullah's plan to sustain the country when oil no longer can.

Photo by Meshal Obeidallah

Analysis & Opinions

A model in preparation for a ‘post-oil’ world

| Mar. 20, 2009

"The GGC states have experienced an exponential increase in domestic demand for hydrocarbons as a result of demographic increases, combined with enlarged industrial demands arising from economic diversification. An astute and comprehensive plan should incorporate renewable energy as an integral part of the UAE’s diversification strategy."