EGYPT - United Arab Power in the Works
The leaders of five Arab countries held a summit in the coastal town of El Alamein, Egypt, to discuss the economic and social consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as well as cooperation on energy and food security and other issues.
Western sanctions against Russia have blocked shipments from the world’s largest gas and second- largest oil exporter, causing prices of energy and food to soar across the globe.
“The economic challenges, and food security in particular, have intensified after the war in Ukraine started. These new developments make cooperation in the region more important than ever,” said Ibrahim al-Assil, geopolitical scholar and senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. Nevertheless, the efforts on energy cooperation precede the war.
“The summit initially began in 2019 as a trilateral meeting to foster economic cooperation between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, notably in the areas of energy and power generation,” said Dr. Hasan Alhasan, research fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Bahrain, adding that the three states have since signed an agreement to connect their power grids, to allow “power-starved” Iraq to purchase electricity from Egypt and Jordan starting in early 2023.
He pointed out that much of the natural gas that Egypt would use to generate the electricity would be supplied by Israel, which has recently approved the sale of additional quantities to Egypt via a new route that passes through Jordan.
-www.jpost.com, 24 August 2022
Arno's Commentary
How interdependent the world has become is increasingly being revealed through international media. As the article states, soaring costs of energy and food are creating the impetus for various countries to negotiate—in this case, Middle East nations. Interestingly, Israel is becoming a supplier, which only a few decades ago was unthinkable. That is another step toward cooperation between nations formerly at odds, even involved in war.
While we do not belittle the tragedy of Russia’s war with Ukraine, it becomes self-evident that this has caused more and more countries to unite in commercial cooperation; thereby contributing to the growth of peace which, we so often mention, will envelope the entire world.
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
