Syria’s Economic Woes Create New Fractures and Power Struggles
October 6th, 2023
Courtesy of Rane’s STRATFOR Worldview, an updated look at Syria’s economic woes: In Syria, growing economic distress and frozen reconstruction efforts are threatening the legitimacy of established actors, in turn providing space for extremists to exploit. Fighting in Syria has dramatically declined as the frontlines of the civil war have largely been frozen since 2020. But […]
Read more »U.S. / Vietnam Bamboo Diplomacy: Focused On Chips Not Troops
October 6th, 2023
Courtesy of Foreign Affairs, commentary on the limits—and hidden strengths—of Washington’s new partnership: In the weeks since U.S. President Joe Biden traveled to Hanoi to announce a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Vietnam, many commentators have described it as a historic turning point in U.S.-Vietnamese relations. The partnership is the highest kind that Vietnam recognizes with […]
Read more »A New $850 Million Route to Speed Up Congo’s Copper Exports
October 5th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, a report on a new $850 million, 184 km road connecting Zambia and DRC to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania: Company plans new highway cutting through Zambia to Tanzania Project could ease burden on strained existing infrastructure An $850 million road project connecting copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic […]
Read more »Investing In Africa’s Clean Energy Future
October 5th, 2023
Via Semafor, a look at where investment is going for clean energy in Africa: A key aspect of global conversations around the clean energy transition relates to the financial cost of pivoting production systems in developing countries from current facilities that depend on fossil fuels to solar and wind sources. Most of the investment in Africa […]
Read more »Putting Renewable Energy Within Reach: Vietnam’s High-Stakes Pivot
October 5th, 2023
Courtesy of McKinsey, a report on how – with conducive conditions – Vietnam’s renewable-energy development could increase exponentially to attract manufacturers and ensure its energy security: Vietnam’s long-awaited Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8) has recently been approved, setting ambitious renewable-energy goals for 2030—similar to the recommendations for Vietnam to embrace renewables set out in our 2019 […]
Read more »Abu Dhabi’s ADQ in Talks With Turkey to Build Railway for Trade Corridor
October 5th, 2023
Via Al Monitor, a look at how – amid increasing cooperation between the two countries – an alternative trade corridor is planned linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia; Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ is reportedly in talks with Turkey to build a railway over the Bosporus in Istanbul as part of a planned trade corridor linking […]
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.