Gwadar vs. Chabahar: Competing Ports in Iran and Pakistan Fuel Ambition and Mistrust
June 12th, 2019
Courtesy of STATFOR (subscription required), a detailed look at Gwadar and Chabahar: China’s expansion across South Asia and the Indian Ocean under its Belt and Road Initiative will drive India’s own regional outreach, heightening the importance of New Delhi’s infrastructure projects such as the Chabahar port in Iran. However, the threat of U.S. sanctions and […]
Read more »Pakistani Army Moves Into The Oil Business
March 8th, 2019
Via The Asia Times, a look at the Pakistani Army’s $100 billion commercial empire covers industries including banking, cement and real estate: The business conglomerate that is the Pakistani Army, which has fingers in multiple pies across the business spectrum, has now moved into the oil business. Recent growth of businesses controlled by the powerful […]
Read more »The Globalization of Gwadar
January 23rd, 2019
Via OBOReurope, a look at Gwadar In early 2019, several states in Middle East announced their interest in the port of Gwadar in Pakistan. The port of Gwadar is the flagship project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). With the opening of the CECP to the rest of the world, the port of Gwadar is likely […]
Read more »China To Join Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline?
September 12th, 2018
Via Silk Road Briefing, an interesting look at the possibility of China joining the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline: China has expressed interest in joining the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, by building a link from Pakistan to China. This could act as alternative to Chinese plans to build a fourth China-to-Turkmenistan pipeline. The China-to-Turkmenistan line has to cross […]
Read more »Aspirations of Pakistan’s Middle Class
August 14th, 2018
Via the Arab News, interesting commentary on Pakistan’s middle class: Pakistan’s recent elections, which crowned the rise of Imran Khan from cricket star to likely prime minister, spawned numerous hand-wringing articles of the “whither Pakistan?” variety. Most of the articles in the global media focused on a similar theme: The multiple and multiplying economic, social […]
Read more »Iran’s Connectivity Strategy
May 9th, 2018
Via Ozy, a report on Iran’s efforts to woo friends and foes with the eastern port city of Chabahar: My interpreter is matter-of-fact as I board the Iran Air flight from Tehran to the eastern port city of Chabahar. “We know when the flight takes off, but we have no clue how it will come […]
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.