A new cycle of negotiation and escalation from the Trump Administration Now we are witnessing a new cycle of negotiation and escalation from Trump and his team. While Washington tightens its grip on Iranian oil export routes, ending a brief waiver that allowed oil shipments to pass through, and announcing that commercial vessels have changed course due to naval pressure, ...
If ASEAN can couple its natural resource endowments with effective institutions and well-considered finance, it can become the leader in equitable and replicable decarbonization. By Mehmet Enes Beşer As the momentum of the world towards carbon neutrality picks up speed, ASEAN is at a turning point. Most ASEAN member countries have already submitted updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the ...
ASEAN’s challenge is not so much to introduce additional clean hardware, but to create the enabling environments—legal, financial, social, and regional. By Mehmet Enes Beşer Transition to sustainable energy technologies is not just a technical matter for ASEAN countries—it is a political, structural, and economic reorientation of development itself. From solar photovoltaics to premium biofuels, from geothermal power plants to ...
Posted by by Mehmet Perinçek 7 Min Read April 13, 2026 An attention-grabbing, and somewhat “surprising” meeting took place in Damascus. On April 5, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Syrian President Sharaa, and Ukrainian President Zelenskiy came together. Zelenskiy had visited Türkiye on April 4, where he met President Erdoğan, before flying to Damascus. The meeting took place at a ...
Attack on Turkish-operated oil tanker Altura: Bringing the US’ plunder and bullying policy to the Black Sea On March 26, a Turkish-operated oil tanker named Altura was attacked in the Black Sea. Türkiye’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu made a statement, saying “A foreign-flagged ship operated by a Turkish company, which had loaded crude oil from Russia, reported ...
ASEAN’s energy future crisis and structural risk are not something that can be solved on the supply-side alone. What it requires is an end-to-end system solution by technology, policy, finance, governance, and regional solidarity. By Mehmet Enes Beşer ASEAN member countries’ energy industries are changing as a result of rising demand, decarbonization requirements, and complex geopolitics. While the region is ...
Solar plants on a large scale are prone to land disputes, especially where there are uncertain tenure status or indigenous communities. By Mehmet Enes Beşer The ASEAN region boasts some of the finest solar irradiation in the world, offering a geographical advantage in tapping solar power to meet its rapidly growing energy needs. With Southeast Asian economies industrializing, urbanizing, and ...
How could an “operation” scenario unfold in the Strait of Hormuz, and what would the consequences be? By Adem Kılıç, Political Scientist When discussing a U.S. ground operation in Hormuz, it would be misleading to view the issue solely through the lens of military capability. For the true determining factors are the constraints imposed by geography, Iran’s war doctrine, and ...
Tracing Energy and Ecology By Mehmet Enes Beşer As the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) shifts from an infrastructure-centered vision to one of increasingly more inclusive models of world development, sustainability has become a core—if contentious—pillar of legitimacy. Nowhere is this more urgent than with China’s economic relations with ASEAN countries, a strategic border region for BRI deployment. By applying ...
Harnessing the Sun By Mehmet Enes Beşer Basking in the sunshine, increasing electric demand, and international pressure building to transition to cleaner energy, ASEAN is well-placed to emerge as a solar power leader. On Philippine rooftops, on rolling central Vietnamese plains, solar photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most promising green growth paths forward. But with this dormant potential, solar ...
Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran: Different Parts of the Same Front By Orçun Göktürk, from Beijing / China More than a week has passed since the renewed attacks by the US and Israel against Iran and the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. During this period, Iran targeted almost all US bases in West Asia and carried out successful retaliations against ...
Interview with Dr. Shoaib Khan, academic at the Center for Central Eurasian Studies at the University of Mumbai India… A leading actor in the new world order whose birth pangs are shaking the globe… Therefore, every step it takes in foreign policy is closely followed. I discussed India’s foreign policy aligned with the US, Russia, China, and BRICS, the trade ...