Opinion

  The projections of the International Energy Agency (IEA) that the global oil market will be almost balanced next year as demand continues to rise faster than production, while the current oversupply is much smaller than previously thought, echo the UAE’s position that current prices were not sustainable. The surplus in the first half of this year is about 40 …

  Mohamed A. El-Erian As central banks in advanced economies — including the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the Swiss National Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve — hold policy their meetings this week, they will all confront tricky questions about the management of national liquidity and cross-border influences. The most fascinating discussion, however, will take place at …

Top diplomats from the U.S. State Department and USAID appeared before a congressional subcommittee last week to make the case for the department’s FY 2017 budget, which requests $164.1 million for Central Asia. Speaking before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, Daniel Rosenblum of the U.S. State Department detailed the justification behind across-the-board increases …

Microsoft’s acquisition of the social network LinkedIn is not easy to understand. Both companies’ chief executives, Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Jeff Weiner, have described the $26.2 billion all-cash deal — one of the largest in tech history — in the blandest corporate-speak, with memos that sounded as if they were part of LinkedIn’s megaboring attempt to create a commentary …

  When he promised a referendum on the U.K.’s membership in the EU, Prime Minister David Cameron was surely not picturing the white-knuckle ride his “remain” campaign is experiencing right now. What was intended as a campaign promise to get his Conservatives elected must seem in retrospect like a reckless gamble. The consequences will be felt long after the ballots …

Several months behind schedule, the New Zealand Defense White Paper was released last week in Wellington. It has earmarked funding of around NZ$20 billion (US$14 billion) over 15 years for defense, which will be used, among other things, to replace frigates and aircraft and to provide the New Zealand Defense Force with a cyber warfare capability. This investment is the …

  Shi Zhiqin SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS In the last week of May the “Old World” met at Japan’s G7 summit. In just a few months time, in September 2016, the “New World” will be meeting at China’s G20 summit. Between those two global summits, Britain will decide on its future in or out of the EU, the eurozone will …

  The deadly Orlando incident,once again, sheds light on genuine challenges lone wolf terrorists, who act in isolation from the main mastermind, pose to security agencies around the world. At certain points, the law enforcement authorities find it difficult to pursue suspects without sufficient evidence out of fear they would infringe on civil rights. Yet, Orlando demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt …

  Mark Gilbert Once upon a time, the euro had aspirations to challenge the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency of choice. Instead, the common European currency is losing favor as a store of value. And as European banks scale back their trading activities, the euro’s role on the global stage is likely to diminish further. Almost a decade …

  Helen Clark SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS I’m late to the story here, but Singapore and Australia signed a large defense deal in May and expanded their free trade agreement, the SAFTA, first signed in 2003, the first for Australia since a 1983 deal with New Zealand. Australia and Singapore have had a generally strong friendship, and one better than …