1st Edition

The Political and Economic Challenges of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa

Edited By David Ramin Jalilvand, Kirsten Westphal Copyright 2018
    302 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    302 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are in disarray, and shifts in the field of energy have the potential to drastically affect the course of political and economic developments in the region. Declining oil prices, skyrocketing domestic demand, the rise of unconventional oil and natural gas production in North America, as well as shifting patterns of global energy trade all put severe pressures on both producing and importing countries in the MENA region. Policy-makers are facing fundamental challenges in light of the duality of grand transformations in (geo)politics and energy. Changes in the field of energy require substantial political and economic reforms, affecting the very fabric of sociopolitical arrangements. At the same time, the MENA region’s geopolitical volatility makes any such reforms extremely risky.





    Including contributions by academics and analysts from both inside and outside the MENA region, this volume explores the changes in global and regional energy, the impact of changing international energy dynamics on politics and economies in the MENA region, and the challenges that will result.





    This is essential reading for researchers, postgraduates, and professionals in Middle Eastern and North African politics, global energy governance and regionalism.

    Introduction

    David Ramin Jalilvand and Kirsten Westphal

    Chapter 1 – Regional trends after the dissolution of "old orders" in the Middle East and North Africa

    Guido Steinberg and Isabelle Werenfels

    Chapter 2 – The Price War, OPEC and the Future of the MENA Region

    Giacomo Luciani

    Chapter 3 – Global Gas and LNG markets: The role for MENA countries

    Anne-Sophie Corbeau

    Chapter 4 – Renewable Energy: a recent, but dynamic trend in the MENA region

    Sybille Röhrkasten and Mohammed Qader

    Chapter 5 – The energy-climate-water nexus in the MENA region and the need for an integrate approach

    Thomas Fink and Manfred Fischedick

    Chapter 6 – Oil and Resilience: Changing Energy Dynamics and the Smaller Gulf States

    Laura El-Katiri

    Chapter 7 – Iranian energy between Nuclear Deal and Oil Price Decline

    David Ramin Jalilvand

    Chapter 8 – Struggling with low oil prices: from bad to worse in crisis-torn Iraq?

    Luay Al Khatteeb

    Chapter 9 – In Dire Need of a New Social Contract: Saudi Arabia’s Socioeconomic and Political Challenges

    Sebastian Sons

    Chapter 10 – The Eastern Mediterranean - an energy region in the making

    Charles Ellinas

    Chapter 11 – Cyprus: Energy Hopes and Political Troubles

    Harry Tzimitras and Ayla Gurel

    Chapter 12 – The impact of natural gas discoveries on Israeli politics, geopolitics and socioeconomic discourse

    Elai Rettig

    Chapter 13 – Jordan: Overcoming Energy Insecurity

    Ayoub Abu-Dayyeh

    Chapter 14 – Turkey: In Between Global Trends and Regional Politics

    Ellen Scholl

    Chapter 15 – Energy Politics in Egypt: A Quick Fix for Economic Problems

    Stephan Roll and Mahmoud Ibrahim

    Chapter 16 – Algeria: Global challenges, regional threats and missed opportunities

    Gonzalo Escribano

    Chapter 17 – Energy security, sustainability and development in Morocco

    Georgeta Auktor

    Chapter 18 – The energy-security nexus in MENA region – Appraising the role of the US, the EU, Russia and China

    Kirsten Westphal

    Conclusions and Outlook

    David Ramin Jalilvand and Kirsten Westphal

    Biography

    David Ramin Jalilvand works with the Middle East and North Africa department of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Berlin. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin, examining the role of the energy sector in the political economy of Iran. He earned an MSc in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Government Studies from Erfurt University. During his undergraduate studies, he spent one year at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. He specializes in energy and international politics, especially in the Middle East.





    Kirsten Westphal is Senior Associate at the German Institute for Politics and Security in Berlin (SWP). In the Global Issues Division, she works on international energy relations and energy security issues. Her expertise are in global energy issues and security of supply (oil and gas); renewables; international energy governance; non-conventional oil and gas; EU foreign energy relations with the USA, Russia, Caspian Region, MENA; and emerging powers Brazil, China, India, and South Africa.

    "This book investigates how deep changes in the world of global energy are adding to the profound political and economic crises and conflicts of the Middle East and North Africa. Examining this interplay from numerous angles, the book’s findings provide very important insights into this extremely complex and volatile part of the world." -  Dr. h.c. Gernot Erler, Former Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office.

    "The problematic nexus between energy and politics lies at the heart of developments in the Middle East and North Africa today. The ambition of this book is to explore that nexus comprehensively, in all its complex dimensions: domestic and international; and social, economic and political. No other major work has attempted so wide-ranging an analysis. The remarkable achievement of the book is that it integrates the diverse elements effectively, providing an interpretation which significantly advances our understanding of this complex and highly Important region." -  Professor Timothy C. Niblock, University of Exeter, UK.

    "This is a comprehensive study of the dynamics between geopolitics and energy, specifically between 2010 and 2016, which fills a gap in current research. It addresses the recent shifts in politics and societies in the energy sector, looking at geopolitics and energy and their dynamics in the MENA region. An extremely timely and relevant work." - Professor Volker Perthes, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, German Institue for International and Security Affairs, Berlin.