Energy & Economics

As prices drop to around $80 per barrel, more attention is being focused on the mindset of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter.

Military force and Treasury designations are great tools for curbing the group's oil smuggling and fundraising efforts, but most of its money comes from local criminal enterprises that are much more difficult to counter.

Washington should keep pressuring Baghdad to make early, ungrudging goodwill gestures toward the Kurds instead of reverting to hardball negotiations and broken promises.

Today's draft agreement will have to withstand domestic and foreign pressure on Amman.

Although scoring a direct hit would be difficult, Hamas fire against Israel's offshore rigs could prove very significant given the crucial role gas plays in generating the country's electricity.

The Islamic Republic has taken tough measures to adjust to the new sanctions, and its economy is now positioned to grow modestly even if the sanctions remain in place.

Woodside's decision shows how Israel will need to cement its foreign partnerships, investments, and export routes in order to take full advantage of its growing gas surplus.

The votes are in, but Baghdad will need to resuscitate the revenue-sharing deal with the Kurds in order to steady the already-troubled government formation process.

Martin Indyk, U.S. special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, diagnosed the collapse of recent peace talks in a frank keynote address to the Institute's 2014 Weinberg Founders Conference. Watch his remarks and download a transcript. Also view other sessions, with speakers including Sen. Tim Kaine, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, and former French ambassador to Washington Jean-David Levitte.