Maintaining a Collaborative Environment Between Turkey and Israel on the Issue of Energy Resources

The discovery of energy sources in the Eastern Mediterranean region, while providing opportunities, further complicates Turkey-Israeli relationship. If Israel and Turkey can cooperate on energy, they can revitalize their relationship to the extent when the military elites were strong in Turkey and the relationship between two countries was established with the hands of generals. The 2016 Israel-Turkey agreement, which ended years of tension, provides Israel and Turkey with the opportunity to cooperate in energy areas. This collaboration, in turn, could generate the eventual emergence of the new ruling elites that would fill the vacuum created by the decline of the military's role in Turkey. It was the crisis management experience of the US that made the agreement between two countries possible in June 2016. Yet, any normalization process between Israel and Turkey will not be easy. US policy in the Mideast influences Turkey-Israel relations, and Turkey-Israel relations, in turn, affect the future of the Middle East. This obliges the US to bear a tremendous responsibility.

Central Asia's Role in China's Energy Security

Central Asia has gained extraordinary importance in recent years in the framework of global energy security. China is the most significant example of a power that looks to its periphery as a viable option for energy supply. In Central Asia, Chinese companies are dynamic players having even broken the long Soviet and Russian monopoly over regional pipelines. This chapter examines the importance of the region within China's energy security, while not overlooking the potential contribution of the China-Pakistan economic corridor in the energy transit. In addition, Central Asia is likely to help China reduce the energy deficit in Xinjiang, through the import of hydroelectricity generated in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Although Central Asia's contribution to global energy security is low, it matters in a context of energy diversification, in which China's One Belt One Road brought a more promising dynamics to the cooperation between Beijing and Central Asian countries.

Turkey's Path Towards an Energy Market

This chapter discusses the possibility of developing an energy market in Turkey. Turkey currently serves as an energy transit corridor, with the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipelines and with its seaborne oil trade, where large volumes are carried by tankers through its straits. Turkey also has the potential to become an energy market with new projects connecting producers in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus, and major consumers of oil and natural gas in Europe and other regions of the world. Two recent megaprojects, The Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) and Turkish Stream will move Turkey closer to fulfilling this dream. Turkey, however, needs to meet some requirements to be considered a mature energy market. These are related, among others, to factors such as its infrastructure, storage capacity, market reforms, and easy market access for private firms to actively participate in the energy market.

Power, Character, and Leadership

On the road ahead for Egypt, the formidable obstacle is a two-headed monster: character and leadership. Now, after two revolutions, it is time to analyze this monster. Egypt must deal with this as success in development is simply not possible without first slaying this monster. As Egypt embarks on its immediate future, targeting its immediate political, economic, and social priorities, it must not overlook the crucial objective of determining the character of the nation, and the responsibility of its leadership. This is a prerequisite that if not met will delay further progress and development.

Maximizing the Potential of a Japan-Turkey Strategic Relationship

The international system has experienced a shift from a Western-centric world dominated by the United States to a decentralized world. This accompanies a shift in the distribution of energy wherein China overtakes the US as the biggest oil importer. Energy is vital for the survival of countries' economic facilities. Japan is a country that needs to import the energy resources to run its industry. Thus, the security of its economic activities is dependent on the security of energy supplies. The fact that Turkey is a country with ambitions to become a regional energy center and has strong ties to the Middle East makes it vital to Japanese interests. Also, Japan's advanced technology and economy are vital to Turkey's ambitions of becoming an energy hub. These reciprocal interests make it possible for both countries to attain a high level of cooperation. Nevertheless, this depends on their self-awareness and political will in order to exhibit a more independent behavior which transcends their previously US-dominated foreign policy.

Analysis of the Robustness of Norway's Economy and Energy Supply/Demand Fluctuations

The high dependency on fossil fuels, fluctuations in prices and supply have macro/micro-economics effects for both energy exporters and importers. Therefore, understanding economic stability based on energy market changes is an important subject for policymakers and researchers. Norway, as a fossil fuel exporting country, is a good choice for the analysis of the relationships between economic robustness and fossil fuel economic fluctuations. While the country is one of the pioneers in the field of sustainable energy utilization, they have tried to provide a robust economic environment for oil export revenues. In this chapter, the impacts of energy changes on the economy are investigated in Norway. In this regard, first, the impact of oil prices on macro-economic parameters is discussed. Afterwards, the main issues related to energy economics including resilience of the energy sector, energy policies, economics analysis of the energy sector, and the electricity markets are discussed.

European Energy Alternatives and Turkey's Compatibility

Energy is an issue of strategic importance to the European Union and Turkey. Both are dependent to the outside. EU is the world's largest energy importer and second largest energy consumer after the United States. Turkey's alignment with the EU's energy policy is extremely important for EU in terms of increasing the diversity and quality of its energy resources. Turkey's strategic location makes Turkey a land of passage for transporting oil and gas to Europe. This geopolitical importance is an important opportunity for both sides. In this chapter, EU's position on energy in the world has been explained first. Then the energy situation and energy policy in EU has been examined. Secondly, Turkey's energy policy and compatibility to EU together with complementary role to EU on Energy has been presented.

Sustainable Development in Muslim Economies

This chapter addresses geopolitics and sustainability and their interrelations with peace and stable economic conditions. Historical events in energy and geopolitics often suggest economic and social patterns which aim for sustainable growth but result in impoverished living conditions. Through analyzing the downward spirals in supply and demand, behaviors, and lifestyles, economies have the potential to offer diverse strategies for management of change and development. Exploring cultural and economic development, striking a balanced and normative approach which acknowledges the existence of societal dogmas, and finding alignment in educational, political, economic, and spiritual values are keys to sustainability.

The Asymmetry of the Global Changes

The object of the study is the asymmetry of interests in geopolitics between developed and developing countries. In the context of the global crisis, the issue of de-dollarization is relevant from the political and economic points of view. What will be the behavior of small oil countries in this situation is a big problem. Also, for them, the question remains how to get off the oil needle in a painless way? The ways of solving the above-mentioned problem by other states are examined in detail, and comparative analysis is conducted in the case of applying these methods to Azerbaijan.

Turkey's Renewable Energy Potential

The energy sector holds a crucial strategic importance for development and its sustainability. However, the energy reserves in Turkey are insufficient for the increasing energy demand. For this reason, the need for alternative energy sources has emerged. The fact that fossil fuels used in energy production will be exhausted and their damaging effects on the environment has made it inevitable for the world to use renewable energy. In Turkey, the following are the main energy sources used in electricity production: hydraulic sources, brown coal, natural gas, coal and fuel oil. The use of renewable energy sources in electricity production has shown a considerable development in the world over the past few decades. However, these energy resources have yet to be exploited to any large extent in Turkey. In this chapter, the range of potential renewable energy resources available for electricity production in Turkey will be analyzed in order to determine the necessary technical substructure to make these renewable energy resources more attractive.