July 6th, 2020
Via Radio Free Europe, an article on how Kyrgyzstan is the missing link in China’s railway to Uzbekistan…and beyond: The big problem with the announcement in early June that the first freight train had left the Chinese city of Lanzhou bound for the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, is that the railway link in Kyrgyzstan needed for the […]
Read more »Iranian Military-Owned Conglomerate Sets Up Shop in Venezuela
July 5th, 2020
Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), a report on a new Venezuelan grocer brings ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: An Iranian conglomerate owned by the country’s military and tied to its missile program has established a retail foothold in Venezuela, according to officials and records detailing the move, deepening Tehran’s involvement with […]
Read more »July 3rd, 2020
Via The Diplomat, a look at the Power of Siberia 2 project involvingRussia, Mongolia, and China: Mongolia, geopolitically and physically land-locked between two regional powers — Russia and China — is paving the way to secure an energy alliance. In March 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee […]
Read more »China’s Pipeline Dream In Pakistan
July 2nd, 2020
Via The Lowry Institute, a report on China’s plan to transport oil across the Himalayas: The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the flagship projects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It initially attracted US$46 billion in investment, which was later increased to $62 billion by April 2017, to support large-scale “infrastructure construction” and industrial development, […]
Read more »July 1st, 2020
Via Eurasia Review, commentary on CPEC: Since its inception, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has evoked a lot of interest among the policymakers, analysts, and strategists around the world. While the ruling elite in Pakistan considers it a boon that would transform Pakistan’s future, many analysts have viewed it as a Chinese game-plan to turn […]
Read more »Covid’s Impact On African Countries’ Plans to Fuel Economic Growth with Oil and Gas
June 28th, 2020
Via Quartz, an article on Covid’s impact upon several African countries’ plans to fuel economic growth with oil and gas: When coronavirus forced the world into lockdown, it punched a hole in global oil demand and sent prices crashing to historic lows. The result was an overnight fiscal catastrophe for oil-dependent African economies like Nigeria that were accustomed […]
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