U.S. Spent Billions on Afghanistan and Failed to Build a Sustainable Economy
September 29th, 2021
Via The Wall Street Journal, a report on Afghanistan’s failure to build a sustainable economy: The U.S. spent $145 billion over two decades in Afghanistan to turn one of the poorest nations on earth into a self-sustaining economy—the boldest effort this century at Western nation-building. That project has largely failed. Afghanistan’s economy did grow, and millions of […]
Read more »Uzbekistan’s Rapid Growth Draws International Investors
September 29th, 2021
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on how Uzbekistan’s booming population is fueling its ambitions to become Central Asia’s biggest economy: Just five years ago, Uzbekistan’s economy was not ready for investment. Today, economic growth has attracted investors from across the world. One problem was currency. In 2016, those with a few dollars to […]
Read more »Why is the TAPI Gas Pipeline So Important to Turkmenistan?
September 26th, 2021
Via New Eastern Outlook, an article on the importance of TAPI to Turkmenistan: Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov strictly adheres to the policy of his predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov. The present leader of the country, who bears the official title of Arkadag, translated as patron from the Turkmen language, does his best to ensure that the state […]
Read more »Scramble for Natural Resources In Guinea
September 26th, 2021
Via the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a look at the foreign interest in Guinea’s natural resources: Often referred to as Guinea-Conakry to distinguish itself from nearby Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea, as well as the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea, the West African nation of Guinea has an abundance of the world’s most valuable […]
Read more »Undersea Internet Cables: Geopolitical Tensions Tugging At The Wires
September 23rd, 2021
Courtesy of The Conversation, an article on the geopolitics of undersea cables: If you’ve ever emailed a resort in Fiji or Vanuatu about that long-awaited holiday, it’s likely your email travelled through an undersea internet cable. Such cables carry much of the internet traffic around the globe, in conjunction with underground fibre connections, satellites and […]
Read more »Economic Opportunity in Central America’s Northern Triangle
September 23rd, 2021
Via CSIS, a look at the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador: The Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador face numerous political and economic issues that contribute to the overall instability of the region. Existing issues of weak governance, lack of security, and unequal economic growth have been exacerbated by […]
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.