Shale gas wells deplete far more rapidly than conventional fields do.

In a way, that is the story of the settling of the Americas, the supposedly inexhaustible frontier to which Europeans escaped.

Available reserves will increasingly be concentrated in the Middle East simply because supplies in all other regions will be depleted sooner.

Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past failures of utopian ideals can be a burden because you know that if everything were free, then the food stocks would become depleted and scarce and lead to chaos.

Qatar with its seemingly inexhaustible wealth and a comprehensive foreign, investment, and media strategy has replaced Saudi Arabia as the decisive arbiter in almost every Middle Eastern conflict.

Even the much heralded shale gas revolution is a lot of hype 160 similar to the gold rushes and stock bubbles of the past. Shale gas wells deplete far more rapidly than conventional fields do.

But the reception rooms have since been noticeably empty. Qatar with its seemingly inexhaustible wealth and a comprehensive foreign, investment, and media strategy has replaced Saudi Arabia as the decisive arbiter in almost every Middle Eastern conflict.

MPAs are a valuable tool for fisheries management because they allow local control of the marine food supply. This ensures that these resources are not drained away from the local communities merely to be exported abroad for short term profit.

During the early days of the Arab Spring protests, the UN, led by Secretary General Ban Ki moon, spoke out forcefully for human rights and democracy. But the UN s capacity to ensure desirable outcomes is limited while the hope that drove the Arab Spring may not be depleted, it has clearly diminished significantly.