This paper by the International Energy Agency considers all direct forms of solar energy and assesses resource potential, technology status, and supporting policies.

Global renewable energy markets have grown tremendously in the past decade. This paper provides a survey of the existing markets for renewable energy, the past and existing policies
that have facilitated those markets, and the implications of electric power sector restructuring for
renewable energy. The paper concludes by considering future prospects, from both economic and policy perspectives.

Michael Moran says the Iraq war brings a role reversal that may not fade quickly.

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Konrad Adenauer, and the President of the French Republic, Charles de Gaulle, signed this treaty on January 22, 1963 to mark the reconciliation of the two countries after World War II.