Digital Silk Road: A Platform for Techno-Authoritarianism in China and Abroad?
November 28th, 2021
Via CSIS, a transcript of Congressional testimony of Jonathan E. Hillman Senior Fellow, Economics Program, and Director, Reconnecting Asia Project re: the digital Silk Road: Chairman Merkley, Chairman McGovern, and distinguished Members of the Commission, thank you for holding this important hearing and asking me to participate. This testimony draws from my book, The Digital Silk […]
Read more »Can Afghanistan’s Underground “Sneakernet” Survive the Taliban?
November 27th, 2021
Via MIT’s Technology Review, an article on how a once-thriving network of merchants selling digital content to people without internet connections is struggling under Taliban rule: When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August, Mohammad Yasin had to make some difficult decisions very quickly. As the country reeled from the shock of the insurgent takeover, […]
Read more »Afghan Economy Nears Collapse as Pressure Builds to Ease U.S. Sanctions
November 27th, 2021
Courtesy of the New York Times, a report on how Afghanistan’s economy has crashed since the Taliban seized power, plunging the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis: Racing down the cratered highways at dawn, Mohammad Rasool knew his 9-year-old daughter was running out of time. She had been battling pneumonia for two weeks […]
Read more »Cambodia’s New Normal
November 27th, 2021
Via The Diplomat, an article on how the road ahead is long and lonely for Cambodia, with Chinese largess checked by the pandemic and Western interests soured by pre-pandemic crackdownsCambodia: Cambodia has raced ahead in opening-up after fully vaccinating about 80 percent of its population, with Prime Minister Hun Sen declaring he was confident that […]
Read more »Kazakhstan Turns To Foreign Investment For Post-COVID Growth
November 24th, 2021
Via Eurasia Review, a look at Kazakhstan’s renewed openness to foreign investment: Since achieving independence from the Soviet Union three decades ago, the Republic of Kazakhstan has understood the importance of procuring a constant flow of foreign direct investments to promote development and economic growth. The government’s priorities regarding where should investment go have changed […]
Read more »Timor-Leste’s Economic Make-or-Break Moment
November 24th, 2021
Via The Diplomat, an article on Timor Leste’s urgent efforts to diversify its economy: Since the restoration of its independence in 2002, Timor-Leste has made tremendous progress in social capital (education and health), infrastructure (electricity and telecommunication), and in institutional frameworks such as security, defense and foreign affairs. To cite some figures, in the health […]
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.