December 10th, 2018
Courtesy of The Economist, a look at Angola: An industrial zone should be a noisy place. At the Zona Económica Especial (zee), a Manhattan-sized plot near Luanda, Angola’s capital, the only sound is birdsong. “My boss said to only show you the factories that are working,” a guide tells your correspondent. Yet all is not well […]
Read more »Central Asia Moves Towards Its Own ‘Schengen’ Zone
December 5th, 2018
Via Ozy, a look at Central Asia’s efforts to become more integrated: When television producer Abduaziz Madyarov traveled between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan with a British TV crew in November, he and his colleagues had to spend hours waiting in queues at border posts. That tortuous experience epitomized the tense relationship the former Soviet republics of […]
Read more »December 4th, 2018
Via The Times of Central Asia, a report on Gazprom’s interest in Turkmenistan: Alexey Miller, Board Chairman of Russian natural-gas giant Gazprom, confirmed the interest of the Russian company in cooperation with Turkmenistan and implementation of joint projects during the meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov in Ashgabat on November 28, State News Agency of […]
Read more »Sudan: Second Chance At An Oil Boom?
December 3rd, 2018
Via SudaNow magazine, commentary on Sudan’s hydrocarbon future: Though it is an ordinary meeting, but the upcoming gathering of OPEC and non-OPEC allies in Vienna on Thursday carries a significant political and economic weight that may have implications even for Sudan. The oil market has been going through a tumultuous period moving from cutting production […]
Read more »December 2nd, 2018
Via The Wall Street Journal, a look at how South Korean businesses that once invested in Kaesong look cautiously across the border again: South Korean businesses poured millions of dollars into North Korea a decade ago, only to see their bets sour and Pyongyang confiscate their assets when political relations later deteriorated. As ties warm once again […]
Read more »Turkmenistan
December 2nd, 2018
Via TRT World, an updated look at Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan is a strategic nation in the region, with deep influence over Russian expansionism in the region, stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and energy security worldwide. Is this sustainable and what’s at risk? The president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, recently made headlines when a video surfaced of him lifting a […]
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