Syria’s Quest To Build Its Own Silicon Valley
September 16th, 2025
Via Rest of World, a look at how tech founders in Damascus are rebooting a war-torn country: At the end of November, Hamza Hourani’s phone rang. It was a cloudy morning in Damascus, and some Syrians were quietly stocking their cupboards as rebel fighters marched south toward the city after seizing much of the rest […]
Read more »McSpaghetti to McAloo Tikki: Inside the world’s local McDonald’s
September 11th, 2025
Via BBC, a look at a new book called McAtlas which shows that the world’s most global chain is also one of the most local, from paneer wraps in India to ski-through burgers in Sweden: “McDonald’s has a reputation for cultural imperialism, but that’s not 100% true,” declares photojournalist Gary He. In his new book McAtlas, He […]
Read more »Looking Back at a Hot Railroad Summer for Central Asia and Afghanistan
September 11th, 2025
Via The Diplomat, a look back at the summer of Central Asian railroads, when – in July – Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan all signed agreements with Afghanistan related to the development of railways: On July 31, Turkmenistan signed a $5 million agreement with Afghanistan to jointly develop and invest in the expansion of Torghundi, a dry […]
Read more »China’s Pipeline Diplomacy Is a Nightmare for U.S. Gas
September 9th, 2025
Via Bloomberg, a look at how the revival of a project that would transport Russian gas to China has the potential to upend Trump’s plans for energy dominance: It’s a potential prize fight for the ages: US “energy dominance” versus the Power of Siberia. A proposed pipeline to bring natural gas from Russia, across Mongolia and […]
Read more »The Quad can Break China’s Mineral Stranglehold
September 6th, 2025
Via Nikkei Asia, commentary on how – the Quad can break China’s mineral stranglehold: Critical minerals are the building blocks of modern civilization. They underpin every sector of the global economy: semiconductors, electronics, automobiles and defense equipment, and have given rise to what Gregory Wischer, an official at the U.S. Department of the Interior, calls […]
Read more »Namibia’s Big Ambition to Become Oil Hotspot Tested By Wildcatter
September 5th, 2025
Via Bloomberg, a report on Namibia’s oil ambitions: Rhino Resources Ltd. made a significant oil discovery off Namibia’s coast after diverting the Noble Venturer drillship to a new location. The company is now drilling another well called Volans, with results expected next month, as the market watches to see if Namibia has the resources to […]
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.