The past week started off with relative peace, but the surprise Hamas attack on Israel reminded everyone of the untethered global world – where wars call for wars and global adversaries are using local conflicts as chessboard moves.
But let’s start with some positives – we all need it.
The goal of Net Zero looked promising when the UAE launched its first wind farm in AbuDhabi and unveiled its first EV-Rabdan One.
Powered by Masdar, the farm uses tech from PowerChina and equipment from the Beijing-based GoldWind group. It is expected to displace 120k tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of the use of 26k cars from the road annually.
The UAE also launched its first EV Rabdan One at ADIPEC. Expecting to sell over 5k vehicles over the next 5 years, the project is part of the UAE’s 10-year strategy to transform its industrial sector and contribute AED 300bn to the GDP by 2031 whilst aiding the country’s CO2 initiatives.
A hopeful flicker for solving global hunger issues also emerged when two students in #Qatar invented carrot-producing 3D printer technology. For the GCC, where most of the food is imported, the technology could be an exciting development.
As the week came to a close, there was a big bang in Israel, where Hamas launched an attack 50 years after the Yom Kippur War. Thousands of rockets were fired, and Israeli civilians and military personnel were taken hostage.
Predictably, Israel has declared a complete siege of Gaza, stopping all access to food, water, and electricity; the US has moved its most advanced carrier strike groups to the coast of Israel; and diplomatic channels are buzzing with the back and forth b/w the Arab League, Russia, the US, and other stakeholders. There have been Hezbollah attacks on Israel’s southern border and pro-Hamas protests in countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, and Iraq. As Israel takes all-out action in Gaza, what stand will the Arab countries take? Suffice it to say – we can expect a powder keg situation in the next few weeks.
The analysis of who did what, who was involved, how did Israeli intelligence fail, and the role of superpowers is ongoing, and it will take time to piece it all together. For now, the immediate impact is the disruption of the stabilization process evident in the ME since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
Watch out for our explainer, which works on a Game Theory approach to identify actors, their motivations, and plausible scenarios for the region.
Though not so drastic, the EU is another scene of national confrontations and rivalries. Austria and Romania are in the midst of a diplomatic spat over Romania’s entry into the Schengen zone – with Austria vetoing it, and Romania blockading Austrian gas projects off the Romanian coast in the Black Sea in retaliation. Poland’s ruling party has also accused Germany of dictating Polish policies and has sent German-Polish ties into disarray, along with German-Polish plans for a tank repair plant for Ukraine.
Image Source: – Energy Intelligence