WASHINGTON, March 7 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on March 6, 2026, by Shashwat Kumar, fellow with the Chair of the India and Emerging Asia Economics program: * * * Russian Crude and India: Here to Stay Amid Middle East Tensions? For most of 2025, the Trump administration pressured India to curb Russian crude imports. It sanctioned Rosneft and Lukoil--Russia's largest oil firms--and imposed a 25 percent punitive tariff on all Indian expo more PR

WASHINGTON, March 7 [Category: Energy] -- The Institute for Energy Research posted the following commentary: * * * Energy Supplies Under a Prolonged Middle East Conflict * Key Takeaways 1 The conflict with Iran in the Middle East will affect energy prices, but the extent of price hikes will depend on its duration and outcome. 2 The most important chokepoint is the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's supply typically transits. 3 Between two and four million ba more PR

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- Hudson Institute, a research organization that says it promotes leadership for a secure, free and prosperous future, issued the following commentary on March 6, 2026, by Miles Yu, senior fellow and director of the China Center, to the Washington Post: * * * China Bet Its Middle East Strategy on Iran. That Bet Has Failed. The Chinese Communist Party's investment in Iran has been monumental. * For more than a decade, Beijing has worked quietly and methodically to turn I more PR

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on March 6, 2026, by Director Joseph Majkut, non-resident senior adviser Kevin Book, non-resident senior associates Adi Imsirovic, Raad Alkadiri, Leslie Palti-Guzman, Ben Cahill and Sarah Emerson, all of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program: * * * What Does the Iran War Mean for Global Energy Markets? The sudden eruption of war in the Mideast Gulf has created dramatic new risks  more PR

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following statement on March 5, 2026, on U.S.-Venezuela relations: * * * The United States and Venezuela's interim authorities have agreed to re-establish diplomatic and consular relations. This step will facilitate our joint efforts to promote stability, support economic recovery, and advance political reconciliation in Venezuela. Our engagement is focused on helping the Venezuelan people move forward through a phased process that  more PR