NATO’s Eastern Flank and Critical Minerals: The Strategic Leadership Opportunity of Bucharest 9
NATO Secretary-General Rutte’s visit to the ASELSAN facilities during his trip to Ankara in April 2026, and his announcement that the defence industry forum held in conjunction with the Ankara Summit would be transformed into the largest ...
More Important Than Rare Earths: Power, Energy and Turkey’s Strategic Position in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Professor Yan Xuetong of Tsinghua University made an observation at the session entitled ‘The Changing Strategic Environment and Dynamics Among Great Powers’ at the ASEAN Future Forum held in Hanoi on 9 June 2026 that is set to leave its mark on ...
The End of a Temporary Respite: The Islamabad Agreement, Oil Markets and Russia’s Structural Vulnerability in Energy Revenues
Following the agreement that came into force on 18 June, the price of a barrel of oil returned to pre-war levels, closing at $73.87. The price of Brent crude, which had fluctuated between $75 and $126 throughout the crisis—which lasted ...
The Final Stretch at Akkuyu: The Technical, Strategic and Geopolitical Anatomy of Turkey’s Nuclear Transformation
The Final Stretch: The Critical Path from Cold-Hot Tests to Commissioning. The news reported on 22 June 2026 heralds not only the completion of construction, but also the start of the most technically challenging and, at the same time, most critical ...
The Strait of Hormuz Reopens, but Will Confidence Return? The Long-Term Economic Cost of Geopolitical Risks
Critical chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca are now not only trade routes but have also become key elements in the global power ...
Will the Crisis End if the Strait of Hormuz Opens? The New Paradigm of Energy Security and the Lasting Effects of Geopolitical Risks
The fact that the Strait of Hormuz is open is not, in itself, sufficient. The example of the Strait of Hormuz clearly illustrates the new paradigm of energy security. The issue is no longer merely the availability of energy resources, but under what ...
The Opening of Hormuz and the Geopolitics of Energy Markets: An Anatomy of a Risk Premium
Iran’s reintegration into the international system has the potential to lend concrete substance to Turkey’s vision of becoming an energy transit hub. Having already established a strong transit identity through the TANAP and TurkStream ...
Uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz: The US-Iran Agreement and the New Geopolitics of Energy
Whilst Trump declared that “the Strait of Hormuz will be opened freely and permanently”, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that “we must be paid for our services”. Whilst Israel declared that “the agreement does not bind us”, artillery ...
The New Order Emerging in the Wake of the Energy Wars in the Gulf
ADANA PANO Prepares to Take Turkey’s Energy Diplomacy to the Global ...
Ownership of the Idea: The Memory of Water, Development and Loyalty in the Western Black Sea Region
At the macro level, the “Water-based Development” vision we have established in Düzce is being institutionalised through the three pillars of the Western Black a Council, the Western Black a Development Union (BAKAB) and the Western Black ...
A Vision or a Fantasy? A Critical Assessment of the Feasibility of Syria’s ‘Four Seas’ Corridor Project
Officially known as the ‘Four Seas-Nine Corridors’ initiative, it envisages an integrated transport and energy network linking the Gulf, the Mediterranean, the Caspian and the Black Seas. President Şara first presented the project to the public ...
The Geopolitics of the Atom: Turkey-South Korea SMR Cooperation and the Significance of Small Modular Reactors in the International System
The Innovative Small Modular Reactor Development Agency (i-SMRDA) and the Turkish nuclear technology company Nuclean; this strategic cooperation agreement represents a significant milestone in which Turkey’s multi-dimensional foreign policy ...
Turkey at the Centre of the Global Energy Crisis: Strategic Transformation and Claims to Regional Leadership Confirmed at Baku Energy Week
According to figures announced by Bayraktar at the Baku forum, Turkey’s total installed electricity capacity will have exceeded 125 gigawatts by March 2026; more than 60 per cent of this capacity comes from renewable sources. Solar energy is ...
From the Caspian to Anatolia: The Transmission Route of the Absheron Natural Gas Field, the Future of the Southern Gas Corridor and Regional Energy Security
The first oop is the onshore connection stretching from the open waters of the Caspian Sea to the processing facilities near Baku. The second oop is the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP), also known as the Baku–Tbilisi–Erzurum pipeline. The third ...
From Absheron to Europe: The Energy Geopolitics of the 33 Billion Cubic Metre Azerbaijan-Turkey Gas Agreement
The agreement signed between BOTAŞ, SOCAR, TotalEnergies and XRG—the international arm of ADNOC—is accelerating the final investment decision (FID) for the second development phase of the Absheron gas and condensate field, located approximately ...
Aluminium-Ion Batteries
Although lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used today, offer high energy density, they present challenges such as cost, safety, resource constraints and recycling. Against this backdrop, research into alternative battery technologies has ...
At the Crossroads of Geology and Geopolitics: Global Competition for Critical Minerals in the Climate Transition
According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2025 Global Critical Minerals Outlook report, global demand for lithium is expected to increase four to six-fold by 2030, whilst copper is projected to face a demand surge of around fifty per ...
The Anatomy of Asymmetric Dependence: ‘Power of Siberia 2’ in Russia-China Energy Relations and the Reconfiguration of Global Power Balances
During their talks in Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached a general framework agreement on the key parameters of the “Power of Siberia 2” natural gas pipeline project; thus, this massive ...
The New Politics of Oil: China’s Export Controls on Rare Earth Elements and the Restructuring of Global Supply Chains
whilst China accounts for 60–70 per cent of global NTE mining production, it holds more than 85–90 per cent of refining and processing capacity. In other words, NTE ore can be extracted all over the world; however, to be converted into a form ...
Istanbul Natural Resources Summit (INRES 2026): The Architecture of the New Geopolitical Order and Turkey’s Strategic Leadership
Held on 22 May 2026 at the Lütfi Kırdar Congress Centre in Istanbul, the 2nd Istanbul Natural Resources Summit (INRES 2026) holds historical significance not merely as an industry platform, but as a strategic turning point at a time when the ...
Where Is Water Heading in the Global Market?
For the concept of ‘water for eace and stability’ to hold true, the rimary objective must be to ensure that eople have access to safe drinking water and sufficient food. However, 2.2 billion eople worldwide—approximately 27% of the global ...
Is the water crisis about to explode?
Global powers such as the US and China are not parties to the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention. Despite the growing risks posed by climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification, there is no global process to prevent this water crisis, nor are ...
OPEC’s Crisis and the Gulf’s New Strategy: The Geopolitical and Economic Anatomy of the UAE’s Decision to Withdraw
OPEC quotas had been keeping the UAE within narrow range of just 2.9 to 3.2 million barrels per day. Operations carried out by the U.S. nd Israel gainst Iran’s nuclear facilities, followed by Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz ...
A New Paradigm in Energy: The Çağrı Bey’s Mission to Somalia and Turkey’s Evolving Energy Strategy
By 2025, the share of LNG in Turkey’s natural gas imports had risen to over 40 per cent; the 20-year LNG agreement signed between President Erdoğan and US President Trump in September 2025, which symbolised this process of diversification, formed ...
The Development of China's Techno-Hydropower Policy
China's approach to water management can be defined as a technopolitical regime shaped by both past choices and current political-economic conditions. The “China Water Machine” born from this regime is one of the forces driving the global return ...
New Hydro-Geopolitical Developments in the 21st Century
While analysts often emphasize pipelines, rare earth elements, or grain corridors in their geopolitical assessments, water will increasingly be the most fundamental resource determining whether regions will move toward cooperation or ...
Turkey's Innovative Hydropolitics in the Middle East
An innovative hydropolitics and hydrodiplomacy approach utilising a water-oil swap agreement could serve as a good model for ensuring sustainable cooperation and regional development in transboundary waters. An innovative transboundary water ...
The Responsibility to Preserve the Balance of the World
To preserve the fundamental balance of our world, which has been disrupted by human intervention, we must address the global picture, ranging from atomic bombs to the ozone layer, from oil spills to ...
Is artificial rainfall a solution?
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality have commenced research on ‘artificial rainfall and rainfall enhancement’. There is no complete clarity regarding the results obtained from this method, which has been tested ...
Wind Energy: Definition, Production Processes and Applications
The growing world population, industrialisation and echnological developments are rapidly increasing energy demand worldwide. The limited availability of fossil fuels and heir increasingly apparent environmental impacts have led countries o urn ...
Energy, Water, Food and Weapons: The Silent Construction of Power, Where the Rules Are Written
The example Venezuela showed that oil alone is not power. If you don't have the weapons to protect it, the industry to process it, the state intelligence to turn it into bargaining power, and the diplomatic skills, someone else will simply turn ...
Why Electric Cars?
In many parts of the world, mornings begin with the same scene: roads filled with vehicles, heavy traffic, the faint smell of exhaust fumes and the sound of engines... This scene, which we have been living with for over a century, is actually the ...
Turkey's Hidden Treasure: Forest Floor Cleaning and Natural Resource Economy
Forest resources, aromatic plants, mushroom diversity and agricultural wealth can be transformed into a lost treasure when managed correctly. Proper forest management prevents fires, increases yield and earns millions for the ...
Water Crisis or Political Crisis?
The year 2025 was extremely dry, and despite the arrival of winter, the reservoirs supplying drinking and domestic water to many of our provinces and districts remain depleted. Water rationing programmes are in place in some areas. Water security ...
Turkey-Iraq Water-Energy Cooperation is a hydro-strategically important step
Under the agreement signed between Turkey and Iraq, infrastructure modernisation and construction projects aimed at the efficient, effective and sustainable use of Iraq's water resources will be undertaken by Turkish companies, with financing ...
Ethiopia's Controversial Dam (GERD) is complete. What happens now?
The tension that has been mounting for years among the Nile Basin countries over Ethiopia's planned Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the upper Nile basin entered a new phase with the dam's official opening on 9 ...
The Importance of Water–Energy–Food Management in the Siri Derya Basin of Central Asia (WEF Nexus)
In order to ensure security in the Syr Darya Basin in Turkistan, water must be managed not only in terms of ‘volume’ but also on the basis of time, area and cross-sectoral integration. The WEF Nexus approach will make the region resilient to ...
Turkey's Energy Diplomacy and the Strategic Transformation of its Drilling Fleet: From Technological Competence to Regional Power Balances
Turkey's comprehensive expansion and diversification of its energy fleet is paving the way for the realisation of the country's vision of becoming a key player in 21st-century energy geopolitics. Energy autonomy is one of the cornerstones of ...
Turkey's Strategic Transformation in the Energy Sector: The Path from Domestic Resources to Technological Independence
Ensuring energy supply security is recognised as one of the fundamental responsibilities of modern states, and this responsibility is even more important for countries in strategic locations such as ...
Turkey's Energy Hub Vision: The Reactivation of the Iraq-Turkey Oil Pipeline
The reactivation of the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline after a 2.5-year hiatus can be seen as the beginning of a much broader strategic transformation than simply the restoration of an energy infrastructure. This development has the potential to create ...
The European Union's Economic Warfare Strategy: 19th Sanctions Package
The EU's 19th sanctions package signifies the implementation of a comprehensive economic warfare strategy that goes beyond traditional diplomatic and economic tools. This package aims not only to isolate Russia but also to rewrite the rules of the ...
A New Era in Turkey's Energy Security Strategy: LNG Agreements and Energy Diplomacy
Strategies for diversifying sources and geography are of vital importance for ensuring 's energy supply security. The numerous LNG agreements signed by BOTAŞ in recent times are concrete manifestations of this strategy. They demonstrate ...
Siberian Power-2: The Power Shift in Russia's Energy Diplomacy and the Concessions Forced by Western Sanctions
The Power of Siberia-2 pipeline memorandum of understanding signed between Russian energy company Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) may appear, on the surface, to be a deepening of the energy partnership between two major ...
The Relationship Between Hydropolitics and Technopolitics in Transboundary Water Management
While hydropolitics determines ‘water policy,’ technopolitics determines ‘which technological forces and infrastructure are used in the implementation of water policies.’ These two areas constitute a strategic framework that must be analysed ...
TPAO-NOC Cooperation: Seeking a New Balance in the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Geopolitics
The Memorandum of Understanding signed on 25 June 2025 in Istanbul between the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) marks a paradigm shift in the complex energy geopolitics of the Eastern ...
The Comprehensive Strategic Agreement between the People's Republic of China and Iran and the Central Asia Summit and Opening to Turkistan
The Turkic world, however, remains silent in the face of this influence. This silence will make the price of independence heavier in the ...
The Role of Kızılırmak Water in Ankara's Water Future is Increasing
The supply of high-quality water to Ankara is under strain. Ankara will have additional water demand in four years' time, and the economics and quality of water supply in Ankara will become a much more important issue than it is ...
The Israel-Iran Conflict and Its Strategic Impact on Global Energy Markets
The Iran-Israel conflict continues. The US also joined the conflict yesterday. The conflict's impact on energy markets ranges from price volatility to supply chain disruptions, strategic reserve management to international energy ...
Increasing Pressure on Ankara's Water Security and New Tiered Water Tariff
Mayor Yavaş drew attention to the serious lack of rainfall in Ankara in recent years and emphasised the need for strict measures to combat the water crisis, stating that intervention was required to prevent unplanned and inappropriate use of ...
A New Era in the Caspian Sea: TPAO's Şafak-Asiman Move and Turkey's Energy Future
The Şafak-Asiman field is located 125 kilometres southeast of Baku, in waters 650-800 metres deep, and was discovered in 2021 by the Azerbaijan State Oil Company (SOCAR) at a depth of 7,189 ...
The Rising Power of the Black Sea: A Historic Transformation in Turkey's Energy Vision
The 785 billion cubic metres of reserves discovered in the Black Sea herald the beginning of the tangible fruits of Turkey's long-standing ‘independent energy policy.’ This historic discovery is playing a pioneering role in redefining the ...
Turkey's Shipyard Activities in the Arctic Region: Strategic Dimensions and Potentials
In the context of the increasing importance of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) for commercial use, projections for demand for specialised maritime vessels operating on this route are seen as a factor encouraging Turkish shipyards to specialise in niche ...
Strategic Appointment from Lubrimax: Strengthening in the Global Market with Mehmet Bildik
Lubrimax, one of the major players in the Turkish lubricant industry, has strengthened its management team in line with its global growth targets, and added Mr Mehmet Bildik, one of our STRASAM writers, in an important ...
US-Ukraine Minerals Agreement: Geoeconomic Dependence or Strategic Partnership?
US demands priority rights in Ukraine for investments in roads, railways, ports, oil, natural gas and critical minerals extraction. ...
Ukraine's Attacks on Russian Energy Infrastructure
Against this strategic background, the targeted attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructures should be seen not only as a military response, but also as part of a complex geopolitical struggle. ...
A New Era in Turkey's Oil and Natural Gas Exploration: Strategic Transformation on the Journey to Discover Its Own Resources
The most remarkable transformation in Turkey's hydrocarbon exploration in the last decade is the intensification and deepening of exploration activities in maritime areas. The work carried out with modern seismic research vessels and drilling ...
The Relationship between Income Inequality, Climate Inequality and Water Security
There is a cyclical relationship between climate change, income inequality, water, environment and food insecurity. This relationship is decisive in the transformation of problems in many regions of the world into crises. For this reason, ...
The view of GAP should be renewed
GAP is a water-based integrated regional development project at started in 1980 and has been continuing for almost half a century. The physical completion rate in energy projects has been approximately 92 per cent and approximately two irds of ...
How Likely is the Possible Critical Minerals Agreement with Ukraine to Impact US Mineral Security?
This agreement is generally considered as part of the US strategy to reduce its dependence on countries such as China and Russia by diversifying its mineral supply ...
The US has connected Europe to LNG. Now Trump takes it for granted
In 2012, the US Congress commissioned a report on the EU's energy dependence on Russia and how to reduce it. Due diligence was carried out. The conditions are ripe. The US entered the EU's LNG market in 2018. ...
Trump will collapse the Panama Canal for Energy
We predicted 12 years ago in our report. A new LNG Geopolitics has emerged. The USA has become the largest LNG exporter. It rapidly increased its market share in the EU. Now it is the turn of Asia ...
Europe considers returning to Russian gas purchases as peace talks continue
As the Ukrainian war continues, peace talks have become an important part of international diplomacy. The success of the peace process is of great importance for both regional stability and global energy security. ...
Turkey Strengthens Its Position as an Energy Centre Country: BOTAŞ-Turkmengaz Agreement
It is possible to state that the negotiations on natural gas trade between Turkey and Turkmenistan, which started in 1998, have reached a conclusion after 27 years. ...
The Effects of Alternative Maritime Trade Routes in the Arctic on the Geopolitics of the Black Sea in the 2050s
The International Seabed is the seabed under the open sea, outside the inland waters, territorial waters and continental shelf areas of the coastal states, where no state has sovereignty and authority. The Polar Region is within this scope. ...
Ukraine and Energy Terrorism: Attack on TurkStream Natural Gas Pipeline
Ukraine's attempt to attack the TurkStream natural gas pipeline should not be seen as an ordinary development. This pipeline is more than just a part of Russia's critical energy ...
Strategic Importance of the Seas and ‘Blue Homeland’
Maritime transport creates a great advantage with costs that are approximately 3 times lower than railway transport, 7 times lower than road transport and 21 times lower than air transport. 66 per cent of Turkey's imports and 60 per cent of its ...
A Popularising Phenomenon: Shadow Fleets
Although it may seem like a mystical concept, the term ‘shadow fleets’ is actually not new. However, the concept of shadow fleets is becoming popular again, especially in relation to the increasingly harsh international sanctions against ...
Hamas-Israel War and Reminiscences from the Past
At the end of 2023, prices were relatively softer than last year (fluctuating between $75-80/v), but recently, with the impact of the Israel-Hamas war, they rose above $93 on 20 October ...
Turkey Energy Outlook Entering 2025
In 1990, Turkey imported 52 per cent of the energy it consumed (48 per cent of which could be met by domestic production); however, starting from the 2000s, Turkey's external energy dependency ratios started to hover around 70 per cent and ...
How Should Our Energy Strategy Directing Our Future Be?
With large-scale cyber-attacks, electricity can be completely cut off. Imagine that the electricity in Ankara is suddenly cut off by a cyber attack and there is no energy for a long time. Generators and batteries only go so far. ...
Turkey's Electricity Generation Capacity
Although Finland ranks very low in terms of total production (almost a fifth of ours!), its per capita electricity production is three times that of ...
Geothermal Energy and Drilling Methods
You are a country rich in geothermal energy and you are investing in dams or thermal power plants, not geothermal energy! You are even investing in HEPPs, which under normal conditions cannot produce proper energy and are destroying nature in the ...
What is Free Energy? Is it Possible to Prevent Global Warming?
Electric cars are now much more popular in Europe and the US, solar panels are being installed everywhere, wind turbines and other green energy sources are just a few ...
Our Geothermal Resources are Local and National Energy Resources
Although the upfront investment is a bit costly, geothermal energy is both a clean energy source and has very low operating costs. Moreover, since it is an energy source you obtain within the borders of the country, you do not have a problem with ...
Establishing a Hydrogen Production Center in the Hydrogen Sulfide Rich Black Sea Solves Turkey's Energy Problem
Hydrogen is a clean l that produces only water when consumed in a l cell. Hydrogen can be produced from various renewable energy sources such as natural gas, nuclear energy, biomass, solar and wind. This quality makes hydrogen an attractive ...
Free Energy Production from Magnet Metal Spreading from Magnesia and Manisa to the World
Manisa, known as Magnesia in ancient times, is a city founded by the Ancient Greek colony Magnetes. The Greek philosopher Thales, who lived in Manisa in the 6th century BC, realized that the magnet stone attracted iron dust and invented the metal we ...
Quantum Mechanics in Biology
There is a relationship between light and electricity. Blue light has much more energy than red light. This is called the photoelectric effect. ...
Ukrainian Resistance, Europe's Energy Dilemma and Turkey
Some of us may find Gazprom President Alexei Miller's statement after his visit to Turkey that Moscow intends to establish a large natural gas hub in Turkey for Europe positive for the near term. ...
Oil Tanker and the Principle of Separation of Powers
Try to carry a glass of water from one carriage to another on a train, and assume that the train is not traveling on a straight line, but on a turn or on a slightly bumpy line. You cannot even carry that glass of water without spilling ...