The Road to Damascus Will Be Paved by China’s Belt and Road
December 6th, 2021
Via National Interest, commentary on China’s long game in improving relations with Syria and the Middle East as a whole: As Damascus’ forces gradually recover more territory, with Idlib province being the last rebel stronghold, Syria is now entering a “postwar” phase. Yet while Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces have prevailed on the battlefield, his victory has […]
Read more »Syria: A New Narcostate
December 5th, 2021
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on how associates of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, are making and selling captagon, an illegal amphetamine, creating a new narcostate on the Mediterranean: Built on the ashes of 10 years of war in Syria, an illegal drug industry run by powerful associates and relatives of President Bashar al-Assad […]
Read more »The Real Reason China Is Pushing “Digital Sovereignty” In Africa
December 3rd, 2021
Via Rest of World, commentary on the real reason China is pushing “digital sovereignty” in Africa: This June, Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, proudly commissioned the construction of the Diamniadio National Datacenter, about 30 kilometers outside the capital city, Dakar. Sall said the West African country would move all government data and digital platforms from foreign servers abroad […]
Read more »Algeria at a Crossroads
December 3rd, 2021
Via The Frontier Post, a look at Algeria: The Algerian economy is gradually recovering from the initial impact of the pandemic and last year’s oil price shock. The health crisis has eased, most containment measures have been lifted, and domestic production of vaccines is supporting immunization efforts. With the rebound in hydrocarbon production and prices, […]
Read more »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 »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.