Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- November 27, 2014

The Geopolitical Impact of Cheap Oil -- Martin Feldstein, Project Syndicate

CAMBRIDGE – The price of oil has fallen more than 25% in the past five months, to less than $80 a barrel. If the price remains at this level, it will have important implications – some good, some bad – for many countries around the world. If it falls further, as seems likely, the geopolitical consequences on some oil-producing countries could be dramatic.

The price of oil at any time depends on market participants’ expectations about future supply and demand. The role of expectations makes the oil market very different from most others. In the market for fresh vegetables, for example, prices must balance the supply and demand for the current harvest. By contrast, oil producers and others in the industry can keep supply off the market if they think that its price will rise later, or they can put extra supply on the market if they think the price will fall.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- November 27, 2014

Why OPEC Will Keep Oil Flowing -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Why Russia Said 'No Deal' to OPEC on Cutting Oil Production -- Carol Matlack, Bloomberg Businessweek

The Islamic State Reshapes the Middle East -- George Friedman, Stratfor

Khamenei 'Does Not Disagree' With Extending Nuclear Talks -- Allen McDuffee, The Atlantic

At an impasse with Iran -- David Ignatius, Washington Post

Will Afghanistan fail as a state after 2014? -- The Telegraph

Berlin And Washington: The Political Battles That Could Decide Ukraine's Fate -- Paul Roderick Gregory, Forbes

Should Putin fear the man who ‘pulled the trigger of war’ in Ukraine? -- Lucian Kim, Reuters

Seven reasons behind the Putin popularity cult -- Tom Parfitt, The Telegraph

Why Israel was Chuck Hagel's biggest fan -- Zack Beauchamp, VOX

Dysfunction Washington can agree on: Firing Hagel won’t fix Obama’s foreign policy team. -- Michael Crowley, Politico

OPEC is a ‘struggling dinosaur’ in age of shale – analyst to RT -- RT