Commentary / World Apr 19, 2016

Saudi Arabia turns its oil weapon on Iran

For decades, Riyadh has insisted that it does not wield oil as a diplomatic weapon, but last weekend it did just that as part of an intensifying conflict with Iran.

Commentary / World Feb 12, 2016

Saudi reform efforts wax and wane with oil prices

No one should underestimate the determination of Saudi Arabia's new rulers to overhaul the kingdom's economy, but the immense challenges should not be underestimated either.

Commentary / World Jan 7, 2016

Saudi Arabia's perilous divides

Saudi Arabia's execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has exposed the dangerous political, religious and socioeconomic fault lines that run through the kingdom and the Gulf.

Commentary / World Dec 22, 2015

Britain's long transition from coal holds lessons for China

Cheaper sources of energy, not government policies, serve as the greatest incentive for phasing out the use of coal.

Commentary / World Jun 9, 2015

OPEC decision reflects new oil market reality

OPEC's decision on Friday not to cut production was entirely predictable and the only practical option open to its members.

Commentary / World May 31, 2015

South China Sea disputes test China's peaceful rise

The South China Sea has become a critical testing ground for the changing economic, political and military relationship between China and the United States.

Commentary / World Jan 11, 2015

Xi a keen student of U.S. power

Xi Jinping is being called China's first U.S.-style president because of how he has cultivated a distinctly presidential approach abroad, overseen loans and trade deals with strategic partners and used the "bully pulpit" at home to advocate a clear policy direction.

Commentary / World Dec 30, 2014

Oil prices and Saudi democracy

Saudi Arabia's top policymakers deny they have deliberately sought lower oil prices, and there are good reasons to doubt the kingdom is wielding the oil weapon as part of some grand geopolitical strategy.

Commentary / World Dec 1, 2014

OPEC's other problem: weak demand for oil

Sluggish demand growth in response to the quadrupling of oil prices between 2002 and 2012 is at least as a big a challenge for OPEC as rising shale output.