Electricity Grids, Smart Grids, and Micro Grids Implications for Electricity Security in Azerbaijan Beyond COP29

Policymakers around the world continue experimenting with different approaches to produce more renewable power in an attempt to achieve their obligations within the framework of the UNFCCC. On the one hand, wind and solar energy projects are on the agendas of numerous governments worldwide. On the other hand, producing renewable energy requires developing electricity infrastructure…

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Azerbaijan-Jordan: recent developments and future cooperation to curb the Shia Crescent

Shia Crescent goes “Full Moon” post-October 7 During the Global War on Terror in the early 2000s, King Abdullah II of Jordan coined the term “Shia Crescent” to describe the Iranian grand strategy of large-scale and wide-ranging ideological armed struggle to create a Shiite empire from Tehran to Damascus. There is no other way to…

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Karabakh after war: Mapping post-conflict reconstruction

In the summer of 2022, Azerbaijan began resettling its first village in Karabakh*, a region in its southwest that had been under Armenian control for about 30 years and was partially recaptured during the 2020 war. Since a war in the 1990s, the predominantly Armenian-populated mountainous parts of Karabakh, as well as seven Azerbaijani-majority districts…

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Beijing Revives China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Railway

On June 6, the heads of state from China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan approved a trilateral pact to transform an oft-discussed railway from a vision into a reality. According to the agreement, construction of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan (CKU) railway is expected to commence in October (Xinhua, June 6). Based on a memorandum signed in May 2023, it…

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Hamas pivot towards Iraq signals involvement from Iran’s ally

As headlines rage over an inevitable war between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Southern Lebanon, Hamas is using this time out of the spotlight to regroup, realign, and reposition. Eyes on the Israel-Hamas War are quickly shifting toward the north as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a reduction of…

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Bulgaria Continues to Be a Reliable Gas Transit Country for Hungary

The visit of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to Budapest has reaffirmed the commitment to strengthening economic relations, ensuring the secure flow of energy through Bulgaria, and enhancing cultural ties between the two countries. On 27 May 2024 the Bulgarian President paid a visit to the Hungarian capital to meet with the President of Hungary, Tamás Sulyok,…

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Baku brings about creating renewable energy plants with Masdar

Agreements for green energy projects totaling 1,000 MW in installed capacity have been signed during the visit of Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of Masdar Company, to Baku, Trend reports via the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan. Specifically, an “Addendum to the Investment Agreement” was signed between the Ministry…

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“Russians never leave,” or how Azerbaijan proved the opposite

On April 17, 2024, an extraordinary development – something that does not happen every day – swept through the region and shocked the observers: the Kremlin confirmed the early withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh, a year ahead of schedule. Back in 2020, around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers arrived following Moscow’s mediation of a ceasefire that halted the fighting between…

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