In the Caspian Region, China Is Just Getting Started
March 1st, 2021
Via The Frontier Post, an article on China’s growing influence in Central Asia and the Caspian region: The collapse of the Soviet Union allowed China to envision a land-based trade and energy network that would be free from dependence on Russia or the United States. Now, amid conflicts in the South China Sea and Taiwan […]
Read more »Uzbekistan Prioritizes Pakistani Over Iranian Ports
February 22nd, 2021
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a report on how Tashkent – in an effort to access seaports at lower costs and shorter distances – may look to Pakistani ports as the answer: Tashkent has been working on creating shorter and cheaper transportation corridors to access seaports since the country’s independence. On February 2, the first trilateral talks […]
Read more »Tracking the Digital Component of the BRI in Central Asia: Exporting “Safe Cities” to Uzbekistan
February 15th, 2021
Via Jamestown Foundation, a look at one component of the Digital Silk Road: Following the 2013 announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at a speech given by People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping during visit to Kazakhstan, Central Asia has been a key regional priority and an indispensable element for the success […]
Read more »Uzbekistan Rising as Central Asian Integration Catalyst
February 15th, 2021
Via Eurasianet, commentary on Uzbekistan’s growing relevance as Central Asia’s regional integrator and power broker: A new dynamic governing regional integration is shaping up in Central Asia. Uzbekistan is challenging Kazakhstan’s position as the region’s power broker, and China’s economic choices may well be a critical factor in determining the outcome of the leadership rivalry. […]
Read more »Afghanistan-Uzbekistan-Pakistan Railway Line Mapped Out
February 3rd, 2021
Via Ariana News, a report on a planned Afghanistan-Uzbekistan-Pakistan railway line: Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan on Tuesday signed an agreement for a landmark railway link aimed at bolstering trade ties between Central and South Asia. The signing ceremony for the multi-billion-dollar project took place in Tashkent, and was attended by senior officials from the three […]
Read more »Winter Energy Woes Bedevil Central Asia
January 12th, 2021
Via The Diplomat, a look at how Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have all suffered in recent months from shortages and blackouts, leaving their citizens to experience cold nights and darkened lights: As the new year was just beginning, the lights went dark in Kabul. Afghan media reported last week that in one 24 hour period late in the […]
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.