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With or without a lasting truce, the war in the Middle East is fueling severe uncertainty, driving up inflation in tandem with slowing economic activity. In the short term, the impact on inflation results directly from the increase in fuel prices. However, the long-term effects are much more difficult to project, as they depend both on the duration and...

The race for artificial intelligence has unfolded through chips, models, and software, but the real bottleneck now lies in the power system. AI is no longer evolving at the speed of code, but at the speed of electrons, copper and steel, eToro analyst for Romania, Bogdan Maioreanu. As massive data centers proliferate, energy is becoming the decisive factor in determining...

The United States and Denmark are holding regular negotiations over a major expansion of the American military presence in Greenland, as Washington pushes to strengthen its position in the Arctic amid growing concerns about Russian and Chinese activity in the region. Official talks have reportedly advanced in recent months and involve plans for up to three new US military bases...

Freight trains in Romania are so slow that it takes them a week to go from east to west, a journey of under 1,000 kilometers. They run at an average speeds of just 15–16 km/h, three times lower than passenger trains which themselves are already slow by European standards. This makes them expensive and impractical. Rail freight traffic has decreased by...

Romania’s President Nicusor Dan’s image has taken a battering with his handling of the country’s political crisis which culminated with the dismissal of the pro-European government of Ilie Bolojan in a no-confidence vote. But he has a chance to redeem some of his support as he hosts the B9 summit, a key meeting of senior NATO and European leaders on...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte are expected to attend the B9 summit in Bucharest this week. The Summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) takes place on Wednesday and will bring together senior NATO, European, and Ukrainian officials for talks on regional security and defense cooperation. It comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags on into its fifth...

After Parliament voted to dismiss the Ilie Bolojan government, Romania’s political parties had the following reactions: The Social Democrats (PSD) wanted the old coalition back without Bolojan as prime minister; The ethnic Hungarians (UDMR) wanted the old coalition back and ruled out governing with the AUR nationalists; the Liberals and USR said they would go into opposition. AUR said that...

Russia has suspended deliveries of Kazakh crude oil to eastern Germany through the much-contested northern Druzhba pipeline, raising renewed concerns over the region’s energy security. Germany has downplayed the immediate risk of a nationwide fuel crisis, insisting that alternative supply routes remain available.  However: the disruption places fresh pressure on the PCK Schwedt refinery, one of the country’s most strategically important...

Bitcoin continued its grind higher last week, briefly trading above $82,800 before pulling back over the weekend. It was a stronger week for altcoins, with several major tokens including SOL, outperforming bitcoin. This shift was reflected in bitcoin dominance, as the share of the total crypto market capitalisation attributed to bitcoin, dropped 1% to 60.60%, said Simon Peters, cryptoasset market...

The Ratiu Forum on Monday announced the launch of the Christopher Coker History Research Prize in honor of the globally respected political scientist and political philosopher.  The prize is a tribute to the Coker (1953–2023) who was  co-director of LSE IDEAS and a key figure in shaping the LSE IDEAS–Ratiu Forum partnership. Formerly known as the Ratiu Forum History Prize,...