Ethiopia Says Lack of Red Sea Port Access Can Fuel Future Conflict
October 17th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, an article on Ethiopia’s growing focus on gaining direct access to the Red Sea: Prime minister calls for talks with neighbors on harbor access Issue raised amid growing tension with neighboring Eritrea Ethiopia’s lack of access to a port on the Red Sea is a potential source of future conflict with neighboring countries, […]
Read more »The Global Alliance of Failed States
October 17th, 2023
Via CEPA, commentary on the alliance of failed states that is threatening to disrupt the international order, but do they have the economic power or bonds of trust to challenge the free world: The visit of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un to Russia, and the possible visit of Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang, represent […]
Read more »China Invested $1 Trillion to Gain Global Influence. Can That Go On?
October 17th, 2023
Courtesy of New York Times, a look at China’s BRI: China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, founded the Belt and Road Initiative a decade ago to use the country’s economic might to enlarge its geopolitical heft and counter the influence of the United States and other industrialized democracies. China has since disbursed close to $1 trillion […]
Read more »China’s Inner Mongolia: Energy and Minerals + Russian and Mongolia Links
October 17th, 2023
Via the South China Morning Post, an article on China’s efforts to highlight Inner Mongolia: State Council’s first provincial-level high-quality development plan for the Inner Mongolia autonomous region focuses on ecology, energy, strategic minerals and border security Plan focuses on building the region, which shares its border with Russia and Mongolia, into an important shield […]
Read more »China Got a Big Contract. Nepal Got Debt and a Pricey Airport.
October 16th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on Nepal’s new airport at Pokhara, which insiders suggest revals the pitfalls of China’s infrastructure-at-any-cost model: On a sweltering June morning, the new international terminal at the airport in Pokhara, Nepal’s second-biggest city, roared to life with the arrival of a Sichuan Airlines flight from China. A […]
Read more »As Belt and Road Forum Convenes, Time to Rethink Narratives on China’s Economic Coercion
October 16th, 2023
Via The Diplomat, commentary on the need to rethink the usual narratives on Chinese economic coercion, and the related anxieties about its ability to weaponize trade, given that China hasn’t been particularly good at it: After a hiatus since 2019, Beijing will host its third Belt and Road Forum on October 17 and 18. China […]
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.