Syria’s Surprising Solar Boom: Sunlight Powers the Night in Rebel Idlib
May 19th, 2021
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on how Syrians in a poor, embattled enclave have turned en masse to solar panels to charge their phones and light their homes and tents: When the Syrian government attacked their village, Radwan al-Shimali’s family hastily threw clothes, blankets and mattresses into their truck and sped off […]
Read more »Tracking the Digital Component of the BRI in Central Asia: Kazakhstan
May 19th, 2021
Via Jamestown Foundation, an article on the Digital Silk Road and its influence in Kazakhstan: This is the second of a three-part series describing the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) growing digital presence in Central Asia—part of a larger project commonly referred to as the Digital Silk Road (DSR, ??????, shuzi sichou zhi lu) that supplements […]
Read more »China’s Belt And Road Initiative: More Misses Than Hits
May 19th, 2021
Via Eurasia Review, analysis of China’s BRI to date: China’s Silk Road OBOR (One Road One Belt) project A fluid and evolving concept, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been mired in controversy since its inception. It has become a much-debated part of China’s ‘Going Global’ strategy and foreign policy calculus. As we enter a new […]
Read more »Why the Motorbike Delivery Driver is a Symbol of Our Times
May 14th, 2021
Courtesy of Emerging World, an interesting look at how motorbike riders serve as vital arteries of the global food delivery industry, especially in the emerging world: Jet-lagged from a long flight that landed in the middle of the night, I woke up the next morning to the familiar sound of motorbikes. I was in Tehran, […]
Read more »Why China Will Not Rebuild Syria
May 8th, 2021
Via East Asia Forum, commentary on growing unlikelihood that China will rebuild Syria: A decade since the start of the Syrian civil war, debate on the conflict is shifting toward the rebuilding of the country. China is increasingly being touted as a leading candidate to address Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction at a time when Western powers and Syrian […]
Read more »Central Asia Confronts Obstacles On Path To Warm-Water Port
May 6th, 2021
Via Eurasianet, a report on Central Asia’s efforts to find access to a warm-water port: A top trade priority for Central Asian leaders is access to a warm-water port. Whether they succeed any time soon appears to depend heavily on China. Policy changes and new infrastructure are already easing Central Asia’s comparative isolation from world markets. […]
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.