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.

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.

This volume brings together views on the nexus and the conflicts between transformation of states and societies and transnationalization processes in politics, economy, and culture. Thematic articles and case studies deal with conditioned nations/states in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. These nations/states are, on the one hand, subjected to transnational institutions, models, and forces and cannot fall back on the model of the classic nation state. On the other hand, the issues traditionally linked to the nation state as a polity - sovereignty, national economy, and identity - are still salient, as they serve to describe and evaluate the consequences of transnationalization. The volume addresses those processes as imminently political ones and poses the question of a transnational polity.

The EU and Russia have established a relationship based on a number of agreements. The latest agreement was the signing of the road maps for four common spaces. But still, the relationship does not run smoothly and faces a number of challenges and problems that are not only of regional importance but do also have an impact on the global level. This volume presents an analysis of a number of aspects which have proved to be important for said relationship. As such, the volume provides a focus on the status quo of the relations in 2004/2005. It combines views of scientists from the EU and from Russia with regard to pressing or latent issues.