Oil and geopolitics: a turbulent year, and no end in sight

Kazakhstan unrest — violence in the western city of Zhanaozen in which some 14 protesting oil workers were killed — caps an extraordinarily turbulent year in the world’s oil regions.

The distribution of power has been shaken up in the Magreb countries of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, and violence continues to threaten the rulers of Syria and Yemen.

Saudi Arabia is spending some $130 billion to stave off its own public dissatisfaction.

In Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s seemingly unassailable hold on power has been challenged by a botched decision to return to the Kremlin, and a rigged parliamentary election.

All in all, the uprisings have helped to push annual average oil prices to their highest level in history, exceeding $100 a barrel.

Look for the global turbulence to continue well into next year… good analysis at the URL:

http://oilandglory.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/12/22/oil_and_geopolitics_a_turbulent_year_and_no_end_in_sight

This week’s eyewitness video of police killing and beating of protesting Kazakhstan oil workers

Will Other Arab Women Follow Egyptian Sisters Into the Street?

It’s horrifying to watch: Egyptian soldiers viciously beating a woman, then peeling back her abaya to expose her torso and bra, before a soldier delivers one last stomp to her chest.

The image from a Dec. 17 crackdown on protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, circulated over the Internet and on news broadcasts globally, helped sparked a Dec. 20 protest march through central Cairo by thousands of outraged women. Other women had been attacked and stripped that day in what was clearly an attempt by soldiers to humiliate female protesters.

“Freedom: who could object? Yet this word is now used to justify a thousand forms of exploitation. Throughout the rightwing press and blogosphere, among thinktanks and governments, the word excuses every assault on the lives of the poor, every form of inequality and intrusion to which the 1% subject us. How did libertarianism, once a noble impulse, become synonymous with injustice?

In the name of freedom – freedom from regulation – the banks were permitted to wreck the economy. In the name of freedom, taxes for the super-rich are cut. In the name of freedom, companies lobby to drop the minimum wage and raise working hours. In the same cause, US insurers lobby Congress to thwart effective public healthcare; the government rips up our planning laws; big business trashes the biosphere. This is the freedom of the powerful to exploit the weak, the rich to exploit the poor.”

Today, the 2nd day of Egypt’s landmark parliamentary election, the first since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

The turnout on the first day was massive, despite security concerns and turmoil over a deadly spate of violence in the week before the balloting. It reflects the nation’s determination to break away from the past after 10 months of frustration over how the military rulers who took over from Mubarak are handling the transition.

Excellent edition of Inside Story, from Cairo. Is the military helping or subverting the democratic transition?

Egypt Voting Begins In First Parliamentary Polls Since Historic Revolt: The vote, a product of Egypt’s “Arab Spring” protestes, is a milestone many Egyptians hope will usher in a democratic age after decades of dictatorship under Hosni Mubarak.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57331779/egypt-votes-shaky-1st-step-toward-democracy/

The vote promises to be the fairest and cleanest election in Egypt in living memory. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest and best organized group, along with its Islamist allies are expected to do well in the vote.

A ‘flash-mob’ of activists erupts on the streets of Cairo ahead of these historic elections:

Lost in the story surrounding Egypt is the financial impact of their crisis. Everyone from small business owners to multi-national corporations must be somewhat paralyzed by the unrest…

Egypt’s stock market took a beating for the third consecutive day and the cost of insuring its sovereign debt soared as protests and violence in the capital raised questions about the country’s stability days before pivotal parliamentary election.

Egypt protests: A million march in Tahrir Square?
• Activists call for mass demos in Tahrir Square against Scaf
• Government resignation fails to quell demands for change

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/nov/22/egypt-syria?newsfeed=true

Tuesday, 10.27am: Protesters are converging on Tahrir Square for a fourth day of demonstrations, AP reports.
Thousands of Egyptian protesters have been camping out on the square and clashing with police trying to force them to leave, evidence that an offer of resignation by the civilian Cabinet the day before has failed to quell the spreading unrest.

Egypt’s cabinet resigns in wake of deadly protests: the resignation comes after three days of violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Tahrir Square, but the action failed to satisfy protesters deeply frustrated with the new military rulers.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45383062/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/#.Tst36VZa8dU

Earlier on Monday, Cairo police fought protesters demanding an end to army rule for a third day and morgue officials told Reuters the death toll had risen to 33, making it the worst spasm of violence since the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. More here…

hi
i live in egypt and not all what you hear on the news is right . not all people want military out , those people are under half Million and egypt population is 85 million. egypt problem now is that some people act with out consider the consequences of their actions and those people are destroying egypt.
they say they are doing Peaceful protest but yesterday the protesters try to broke in to Ministry of the Interior and set fire in civilians cars & houses so is this peaceful protest? no its not , and the wonder why is the army attacking well the army have to its their job to protect us.
to be fair not all the protester arent peaceful but they stand in the same place so the get hit

Egyptian Blogger Uses Nudity to Protest: CAIRO — Aliaa Magda Elmahdy apparently thought she was striking a blow for free expression in Egypt when she posted nude photographs of herself on a blog. Instead Ms. Elmahdy set off a wave of outrage, stoking conservative Islamist sentiments that many Islamist liberals fear will undermine their prospects in the country’s parliamentary election.

Soon after the post went live, apparently admiring allies sent out Twitter messages in support, inaugurating the nationwide debate. “A feminist #Jan25 revolutionary posted her nude photo on the internet to express her freedom. I’m totally taken back by her bravery!!” one ally, Ahmad Awadalla, a human rights activist, said on Twitter.