Afghanistan: No Treasure Trove For China
October 4th, 2021
Via Foreign Policy, an article on Afghanistan’s mineral reserves: In the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a popular narrative has emerged that paints the war-torn country as a geopolitical prize ripe for China to take. According to this logic, Beijing is greedily eying Afghanistan’s vast mineral wealth, and Chinese policymakers are chomping at […]
Read more »Laos – China Railway
October 4th, 2021
Via Asia Times, an article on the China-Laos railway which will open on December 2: Laos will never be the same again on December 2, the day the first high-speed train on the Belt and Road Initiative-built railroad is scheduled to roll into the capital Vientiane arriving from the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Running […]
Read more »Uzbekistan’s Rapid Growth Draws International Investors
September 29th, 2021
Courtesy of The Financial Times, an article on how Uzbekistan’s booming population is fueling its ambitions to become Central Asia’s biggest economy: Just five years ago, Uzbekistan’s economy was not ready for investment. Today, economic growth has attracted investors from across the world. One problem was currency. In 2016, those with a few dollars to […]
Read more »Why is the TAPI Gas Pipeline So Important to Turkmenistan?
September 26th, 2021
Via New Eastern Outlook, an article on the importance of TAPI to Turkmenistan: Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov strictly adheres to the policy of his predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov. The present leader of the country, who bears the official title of Arkadag, translated as patron from the Turkmen language, does his best to ensure that the state […]
Read more »Undersea Internet Cables: Geopolitical Tensions Tugging At The Wires
September 23rd, 2021
Courtesy of The Conversation, an article on the geopolitics of undersea cables: If you’ve ever emailed a resort in Fiji or Vanuatu about that long-awaited holiday, it’s likely your email travelled through an undersea internet cable. Such cables carry much of the internet traffic around the globe, in conjunction with underground fibre connections, satellites and […]
Read more »Afghanistan’s Fate Will Be Shaped by Geoeconomics
September 21st, 2021
Via Geopolitical Monitor, an article on the impact of geoeconomics on Afghanistan’s future: Geoeconomics was originally defined by the strategic thinker Edward Luttwak as the logic of conflict expressed through the grammar of commerce. As such, it represents an analytical model that is appropriate to examine the involvement of geopolitical forces in the economic sphere […]
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.