IBA Global Insight – conflict and global energy
Monday 30 March 2026
Global fuel prices have soared following Iran's effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel for the world's oil supply. The blockade and its consequences have highlighted the volatility of the world's energy markets, particularly in times of conflict, as previously demonstrated by the Russia-Ukraine war. Below, we’ve selected some of the best of Global Insight's continuing coverage of these and related issues.
Column: Operation Epic Fury
Rather than focusing on his long-overdue promise to end the war in Ukraine, US President Donald Trump has opened yet another warfront. As US and Israeli forces strike thousands of targets across Iran, the economic fallout is being felt globally as energy prices surge.
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Feature: Trade in a time of turmoil
Following the Second World War, trade became a way of fostering peace between nations. But as disruptions to international trade escalate – particularly affecting shipping routes in the Middle East – and more countries turn in on themselves, Global Insight investigates whether that ideal has been lost.
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Feature: What’s stopping the clean energy transition
The stated aim of many governments is to transition away from fossil fuels in line with the Paris Agreement – an aim made more urgent by the need to end dependence on Russian energy. The international Energy Charter Treaty risks frustrating these aims, as this feature explores.
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Column: Attacks by Yemeni rebels in Red Sea threaten global supply chains
The Houthi rebels have risen from a small and obscure group into a military force that now claims nearly two-thirds of Yemen. Their attacks on ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have previously created serious disruption to global supply chains and they have now entered the Iran war by attacking Israel.
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Feature: Russia’s shadow fleet – a growing threat
In response to restrictive Western sanctions, Russia has built a shadow fleet to transport its oil, with ships broadcasting false position signals and undergoing multiple ownership changes to avoid detection. Global Insight assesses the tactics being used by the vessels and efforts by authorities to counter the fleet.
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Column: Rare earths; global power
In an increasingly complex geostrategic environment, the world’s most critical commodities are no longer merely oil, coal or natural gas. The materials beneath them – critical minerals and rare earths – are now the real strategic asset. Control over these materials is already shaping international relations.
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Column: Plunging into darkness
In 2023, an unprecedented calamity unfolded when the Kakhovka Dam collapsed due to Russian attacks. Writing exclusively for Global Insight, Ukraine’s former Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, explains how Russia’s indiscriminate targeting of Ukrainian infrastructure violates international law.
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Podcast: The Red Sea and the Houthis
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which sits at the southern tip of the Red Sea, has become an increasingly dangerous chokepoint off the coast of Yemen. In November 2023, Houthi rebels launched attacks against ships heading through the Strait in ‘retribution’ for Israel’s war in Gaza.
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Column: Fracture in the Gulf – Saudi and UAE clash over Yemen's future
For decades Saudi Arabia and the UAE have marched in lockstep on foreign policy, united by shared targets including containing Tehran’s influence and propping up their global energy interests. But that bond abruptly splintered following clashes in Yemen between Saudi-backed forces and those allied to the UAE.
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