The Uncertain Future of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor
April 19th, 2026
Via The Diplomat, a report on how – despite the swearing-in of a new “civilian” government – progress on the project is likely to remain sluggish: With Myanmar’s now-former military chief Min Aung Hlaing having taken up the country’s presidency in civilian garb following a bogus election, this is an opportune moment to examine whether […]
Read more »China Was Once Buying Up Sri Lankan Ports. Now It’s India’s Turn.
April 19th, 2026
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at how the Indian Ocean has no shortage of distressed strategic assets: financially stressed yards, ports, and logistics infrastructure in small states that cannot sustain them independently. Nearly 20 years after China stirred fears about “debt trap diplomacy” with its construction and takeover of the Hambantota Port in Sri […]
Read more »China’s $4.5 Billion Headache: The Niger-Benin Pipeline and the Limits of Non-Interference
April 16th, 2026
Via The Diplomat, a look at how the question is no longer whether Beijing is meddling in African affairs, but how much longer it can pretend that it isn’t: In February 2026, the Chinese Embassy in Niamey sent out a warning to its citizens in Niger, urging them to avoid high-risk areas and to activate their emergency […]
Read more »Why Did China Buy Up the World’s Ports?
April 15th, 2026
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a look at how Beijing’s port acquisition strategy is less focused on acquiring sovereign control, more so in assuring its own strategic security: After debating whether it was about regime change, nuclear weapons, or the defanging of regional proxies, the United States and Israel’s war with Iran reached an impasse at […]
Read more »How China Reinvented the BRI
April 3rd, 2026
Via Foreign Policy, a look at how Western tariffs accelerated the BRI’s transformation into a sophisticated extension of China’s industrial policy: Not long ago, Western policymakers were writing the obituary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). That verdict is now dangerously obsolete. The stark reality of 2025 has shattered the narrative of a Chinese retreat. […]
Read more »The Politics of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway
March 26th, 2026
Via The Diplomat, a look at the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway: In late March 2026, during the celebration of the Central Asian new year, Nawruz, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov announced the latest target for the completion of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway: 2030. “If now we live in a ‘dead-end’ country between Europe and China, with the completion of the construction of […]
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.