Umud Shokri
Dr. Umud Shokri is a Washington-based energy diplomacy and energy security analyst, and an analyst at Gulf State Analytics (GSA), currently serving as a Visiting Research Scholar in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He holds a PhD in International Relations. Follow him at @ushukrik, https://uskenergy.com/.
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Articles by Umud Shokri
The Geopolitics of Turkey’s Upcoming Elections
On May 11, Turkish opposition candidate Muharren Ince announced that he was dropping out of the upcoming presidential elections, allegedly due to, in his words, a “smear campaign” that is...
The Future of Russian-Uzbekistani Energy Relations
In February 2023, Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced an energy package valued at over $1 billion to ease the country’s heating and electricity needs (Tashkent Times, February 8). In this,...
Iran Looks to Turkmenistan for Energy Needs
With its massive oil and natural gas reserves, Turkmenistan’s economy is heavily dependent on foreign exchange earnings from the export and sale of these resources. Given this, the country’s economic...
The Future of Iranian-Ukrainian Relations
At present, Iran is struggling mightily with Western sanctions and the resulting economic pressures due to its nuclear program. With the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amin, the country has witnessed...
Russia and the Gulf: Implications for Global Energy Markets and Moscow’s International Isolation
Pressure is growing around the world to cut off international purchases of Russian oil because of the Kremlin’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In recent days, the government of Poland...
The Iranian-Turkish Cooperation Roadmap: A Solution to Resolving Bilateral Problems and Tensions?
In recent months, Turkey and Iran seized an opportunity to try to reduce their long-running multifaceted tensions. Despite geopolitical and security-related frictions, the bilateral relationship is rosier when it comes...
Iran’s Full Membership in the SCO: A Win-Win Game?
Iran’s bid to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) dates to one year after it received observer status in 2005. All along, however, the most important...
Iranian-Azerbaijani Relations Under the New Raisi Administration
Despite a rapprochement of sorts in 2019 (see EDM, March 20, 2019), Iran’s relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan faced new strains and challenges during the final year of Hassan...
Between Neutrality and Fighting Internal Dissatisfaction: Iran’s Policy on Karabakh
The geopolitical and geo-economic impact of the three-decades-old Karabakh conflict on the stability of the broader South Caucasus is clear and broadly recognized. Given the importance of the South Caucasus...
Energy Resources and the New Great Game in the Eastern Mediterranean
Control over energy resources and transit routes has long been a source of rivalry and competition among major powers with interests in the Middle East, Caspian Sea basin and Central...
Is Turkey’s New Gas Discovery in the Black Sea a Game Changer?
In mid-August, Turkey officially announced the discovery of a massive, 320-billion-cubic-meter (bcm) natural gas field in the Black Sea, in an exploration zone called “Tuna-1” (TRT World, August 21). The...