Whatever consequences might ensue from the election of Abdullah Gul as Turkey’s new president, a change of direction in Turkey’s relations with Russia is unlikely to be one of them. Since the government, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) took office in 2002, Turkey has been drifting eastward — but not toward the Islamic world. Ankara’s disputes with European countries over Turkey’s proposed entry into the European Union and with Washington over U.S. policies toward northern Iraq have weakened Turkey’s traditional westward orientation. In the east, however, the AKP government has been more eager to cultivate relations with [...]
BAKU, Azerbaijan — In its latest effort to wean itself from dependence on the Middle East for its energy needs and to counter rival Russia’s influence in resource-rich Central Asia, the United States has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to examine the feasibility of expanding the so-called Trans-Caspian Pipeline project to transport oil and gas from the region. The remote and isolated nations of Central Asia are the new playing field in the battle for control of the world’s dwindling resources of natural gas and crude oil, and Azerbaijan, wedged between Russia and Iran on the Caspian Sea, is a [...]
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Brazil has always dealt with its energy problems in the same way— by building more dams. During the 1970s military dictatorship, it was thought a mega-dam or two would solve the country’s energy problems for a generation. It was then Brazil began collaborating with neighboring Paraguay to build the massive Itaipu dam, which supplies approximately one-fifth of Brazil’s energy. Despite Itaipu’s output, Latin America’s largest economy still has problems with the stability of its energy supply. Last year, Bolivia put Brazil into a stranglehold by threatening to restrict the flow of natural gas, triggering a flurry [...]
