Central Asia Accessing Pakistani Sea Ports that Bypass Afghanistan
May 29th, 2026
Via Jamestown, a report on how Central Asia is bypassing Afghanistan as a primary transit gateway to the sea: Executive Summary: Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Transport and Communications announced the successful implementation of a pilot transport project on the Kyrgyzstan–China–Pakistan route on April 24. The new 2,000-mile route through the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is […]
Read more »China’s Quiet Pivot to Central Asian Gas
May 27th, 2026
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a report on China’s pivot to Central Asian gas: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on May 20 with a delegation built for a deal: five deputy prime ministers, eight Cabinet ministers, and the chiefs of Gazprom and Rosneft. He left two days later with declarations of friendship, a visa-free […]
Read more »PRC–Turkmenistan Gas Ties Hedge Hormuz Risk
May 11th, 2026
Via Jamestown, a look at China’s efforts to develop overland energy security through Central Asia, especially Turkmenistan: The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is intensifying its pursuit of overland energy security through Central Asia as the Middle East conflict raises the strategic cost of maritime exposure. Turkmenistan is the primary anchor of this effort. Politburo […]
Read more »China and Turkmenistan Inaugurate New Phase at Galkynysh Gas Field
April 24th, 2026
Via The Diplomat, a report on how – despite consistent chatter about the need for diversification – Ashgabat has struggled to reach customers other than China given infrastructure constraints: A month after Turkmenistan’s top leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, was warmly welcomed in Beijing, China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang joined him at a ceremony inaugurating a new phase […]
Read more »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 »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.