Extravagant title, perhaps.
I was reading about the relationship between Russia and Kuwait recently and it struck me that Kuwait was the only country in the Arab world with long term active Soviet relations - remember that Kuwait is a highly socialised society. Kuwait was actually the doorway for Russians into the Middle East for many years.
The Gulf War of 1991 changed all that (Perhaps another reason for the invasion?). Here we are 26 years later and the tide is moving again. Russian companies are looking at the Middle East for business. Many I know have set up operations in Dubai - ease of business, quick money transfers, great relaxed lifestyle, Sun....
But the business of the Middle East is in oil and gas, and Dubai has neither. So to other countries of the region one must look: Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, each with close to 100 billion barrels of oil remaining. Peak coal consumption has come and gone - the coal industry will be dying in 5 years and gone in 10 (except India, Australia, and the USA...).
Oil is not far behind - this year, next year we will see the peak? In the USA and Europe peak oil has already come and gone... It wasn't in the news was it...
For at least the next 10 years primary production of a natural resource will continue unabated, but only as long as Asia finds alternatives: China reached their 100 GW 2020 target of installed solar energy - in 2017...
The IEA is not interested in reality is seems also:
The difference is that now the players are less from the West and more from the East. Their knowledge curve is steeper and faster - they have others' experience to learn from. They have the internet. They have Youtube, Whatsapp... So, therefore, the new earth arrives. Russia, China, Asia minor. These are the places for now and the future. Watch it turn...!