Has Uzbekistan’s Time Finally Come?
August 28th, 2021
Via Geopolitical Futures, commentary on Uzbekistan in light of the U.S. decision to withdraw from Afghanistan: In our 2019 Annual Forecast, we said we expected Uzbekistan to challenge Kazakhstan as the dominant power in Central Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed any progress toward that end, but now that the world seems to be getting past the […]
Read more »Taliban Okays TAPI Gas Pipeline Work To Resume As Kabul Banks Reopen
August 25th, 2021
Via Silk Road Briefing, an article on some signs of normalcy returning to Afghanistan: Signs of normality returning as Afghani banks reopen and national infrastructure projects restart Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said that one of the group’s main priorities, once it has established itself in power in Afghanistan, is to push ahead with the TAPI […]
Read more »Taliban Coffers Filled By Afghanistan’s Shadow Economy
August 21st, 2021
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on the Tailban’s challenge of paying government salaries and keeping the country running: The toppling of Afghanistan’s pro-western government and re-establishment of Taliban control has handed the running of the country’s formal economy over to the Islamists. Yet this task will not be completely alien to the militant […]
Read more »The Belt and Road’s Future In Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
August 21st, 2021
Via The Diplomat, a look at BRI’s future in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan: When the United States and its allies began evacuating from Kabul on August 15, as the Taliban entered the Afghan capital, China decided to keep its embassy open and claimed it was ready for friendly relations with the Taliban. State Councillor and Foreign Minister […]
Read more »The Taliban Have Claimed Afghanistan’s Real Economic Prize
August 20th, 2021
Courtesy of The New York Times, commentary on the Taliban’s control of border crossings: After their stunning capture of Kabul, the Taliban have tried to convey a sense of calm. Only days after Afghanistan’s top officials scrambled onto military flights and desperate Afghans clung to the fuselage of departing planes, the Taliban coolly went on inspection tours of government […]
Read more »The Afghanistan-China Belt & Road Initiative
August 18th, 2021
Via Silk Road Briefing, a look at potential BRI routes exist along the Wakhan Corridor and via Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, but it is Pakistani access to Kabul that looks the better option – as long as the Taliban can provide stability, develop Afghan society, and refrain from regional aggression International media has focused on Afghanistan these past […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.