The Middle East Drug Fueling War, Crime and All-Night Parties
October 28th, 2024
Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, a look at how captagon is bringing big profits to Syria’s Assad regime and Hezbollah—and it’s triggering a health crisis: Another urgent conflict in the Middle East is playing out on the border between Syria and Jordan: a war against captagon, an amphetamine-like drug that’s taken off across the […]
Read more »Syria’s Zombie Economy Fueled By Drugs
July 25th, 2024
Courtesy of The Washington Post, a report on how war and sanctions crushed Syria so it built a zombie economy fueled by drugs: On clear days, the Syrian villages along the border here look deceptively empty. The Jordanian soldiers peering north across no man’s land see only dusty ghost towns where nothing moves except feral dogs […]
Read more »Unwavering Allies: The China-Syria Strategic Partnership
November 9th, 2023
Via Eurasia Review, a look at the China-Syria strategic partnership: Although not over yet, the year 2023 will go down in world history as an important year marked by wars in Ukraine, the Holy Land and Nagorno-Karabakh, the rise of anti-colonialist movements in Africa 2.0, major weather disasters and political instability. When looking at influential […]
Read more »Iranian, Syrian Oil Ministers Emphasize Bilateral Energy Cooperation
October 12th, 2023
Via Tasnim News, an article on recent moves between Iran and Syria to cooperate on energy: Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji and his Syrian counterpart Firas Hassan Kaddour underscored the importance of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the energy sector. The two ministers met on the sidelines of the 6th Russian Energy Week International Forum in […]
Read more »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 »Iran, Venezuela, Syria Sign Landmark Oil Refinery Deal to Foil US Sanctions
October 1st, 2023
Via Tasnim News, a report on a new agreement between Iran, Venezuela, and Syria for a new 140,000 barrel refinery to be built in Syria: Signing a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Iran, Venezuela and Syria for building a new refinery in the Arab country is clear proof of Iran’s ability to cooperate with […]
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.