Why Has High Speed Rail Failed in Kazakhstan?
November 9th, 2024
Kazakhstan once harbored grand plans for a high-speed rail network. The Diplomat examines why – while its neighbors have pushed ahead with such projects – HSR fallen out of favor in Astana: High-speed train travel can be a challenging prospect for any nation. To achieve speeds of 250 kilometers per hour, high-speed rail (HSR) requires […]
Read more »Chinese Investment in Kazakhstan Deepens With $2.5 Billion in New Deals
November 5th, 2024
Via The Diplomat, an article on new Chinese investment in Kazakhstan, most of which involve a steel and mining company recently acquired and renamed by a state-owned private equity firm in the wake of a tragic mining accident: During a working visit to Shanghai this week, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov attended a Kazakh-Chinese investment roundtable, […]
Read more »Rare Earths and Rare Opportunities in Central Asia
October 29th, 2024
Via Geopolitical Futures, a look at Central Asia’s rare earths potential: Central Asia has become more geopolitically important lately – not just as the underbelly of its economically challenged and politically isolated neighbor, Russia, but also as a transit hub that links China to Europe and as a supplier of raw materials that will fuel […]
Read more »China’s Evolving Strategy in South and Central Asia
October 16th, 2024
Via The Diplomat, a look at how China’s growing footprint in South and Central Asia has been made possible by the influx of grants, loans, mergers, and economic concessions for projects: In the middle of the Pamir mountains, near the remote Tajik-Afghan border area of Badakhshan, I find myself staring at a large red banner […]
Read more »Giant Steppes: Turkey and Central Asia Are Riding Together Once Again
October 12th, 2024
Via The Economist, a report on the Organization of Turkic States: Just outside Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, a woman whips her horse into a canter, raises a wooden bow and sends three arrows whistling through the air, one after the other, to the delight of spectators. Golden eagles perch on their owners’ shoulders. Nearby, men on horseback […]
Read more »Can China’s Global South Strategy Achieve Its Objectives in Central Asia?
October 12th, 2024
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a report on China’s foreign policy toward Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan which has had contrasting results over the years: The notion of the Global South has been characterized as “an intellectually elusive but emotionally rich term.” The multifaceted term Global South can refer to over 120 countries. It is used to describe regions and nations suffering […]
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.