• Saudi Policy Confronting US Senate

    by James M. DORSEY

    The six-page draft also holds Prince Mohammed accountable for the devastating war in Yemen that has sparked one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the failure to end the 17-month-old Saudi-United Arab Emirates-led economic and diplomatic boycott of Qatar, and the jailing and torture of Saudi dissidents and activists. In doing so, the resolution confronts not only Prince Mohammed’s policies but also by implication those of his closest ally, UAE crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed. The UAE was the first country that Saudi leader visited after the Khashoggi killing. By in effect challenging the position of king-in-waiting Prince Mohammed, the resolution raises the question whether some of his closest allies, including the UAE crown prince, will in future want to be identified that closely with him. Moreover, by demanding the release of activist Raif bin Muhammad Badawi, better known as Raif Badawi, and women’s rights activists, the resolution further the challenges fundamentals of Prince Mohammed’s iron-fisted repression of his (...)

  • Eurasian Rail Alliance Index

    by Nazar TAMASHEVSKA

    The CILF 2018, the 13th China (Shenzhen) International Logistics and Transportation Fair took place from 11 October to 13 October in the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre in Shenzhen, China and was organized by the City Government. The Fair gathered more than 1,800 exhibitors from 50 countries, with international companies having over 30% of exhibition platform space. Rail container transit is the newest and indeed the fastest growing segment in the rail transportation market. In 2017, the amount of transit shipments posted a 60% increase compared to 2016, reaching 413,000 (...)

  • Pakistani Poker: Playing Saudi Arabia against China

    by James M. DORSEY

    The Pakistani moves threaten a key leg of the $60 bln [*] plus Chinese investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a crown jewel of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative. They also could jeopardize Chinese hopes to create a second overland route to Iran, a key node in China’s transportation links to Europe. Finally, they grant Saudi Arabia a prominent place in the Chinese-funded port of Gwadar that would significantly weaken Iran’s ability to compete with its Indian-backed seaport of Chabahar. Saudi Arabia is expected to join CPEC-Gwadar into an Oil City (...)

  • Turkey’s Lira Meltdown

    by Nazar TAMASHEVSKA

    Turkey’s economy is overheating with an inflation at a 15-year high and a current account deficit gaped at just over 7% of GDP. So when the meeting came and went and the central bank left its policy loose, investors balked. The rate of Turkish price growth has jumped from 17.9% to 24.52% on the year, while on the month an increase from 2.3% to 6.3% has been seen. The Turkish Central Bank (TCMB) hiked interest rates from 17.75% to 24% in mid-September, clearly with no immediate impact on prices. Turkey: Monetary Policy Rates Percent Source: CBRT and Fund staff estimates. (Credit: IMF) (...)

  • A Second Iran-Petrodollars War?

    by Babak KHANDANI

    In the economic front, Iran is finding it increasingly difficult to sell its oil and derivatives. Unlike the period before nuclear agreement, EU quickly rallied to the Americans. Russia pretends to support Iran while seeking to take advantage of the absence of Iranian oil to increase its own exports. Even the most loyal customers, such as India and South Korea, are failing. Netanyahu ignores the 9th commandment Click to enlarge (© Satrapia) On the media front, Iran is blamed of all the (...)

  • Eastern Mediterranean Energy Geostrategy on Proposed Gas Export Routes

    by Thrassy MARKETOS

    Eastern Mediterranean Energy Geostrategy on Proposed Gas Export Routes (PDF) Published by Fondation pour le Recherche (Click to download) From 2008 onwards, the security and political order in this subsystem, existing since the onset of the Cold War, collapsed, due to the deterioration in relations between the USA’s two most capable regional allies, Turkey and Israel and the continuing fallout of the Arab Spring. It’s been replaced by a widening civil war in Syria and a geopolitical (...)

  • China Struggles with Belt and Road Pushback

    by James M. DORSEY

    “It’s normal and understandable that development focus can change at different stages in different countries, especially with changes in government. So China can also make some strategic adjustments when cooperating with these countries, but it’s definitely not a reconsideration of the B&R (Belt and Road) initiative”, Wang Jun, deputy director of the Department of Information at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges told the Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper. (...)

  • The Assault on Fortress Qatar

    by Ali BAKEER

    In order for such a move to work, the Saudi-led bloc had to rely on primitive tribal tactics — hoping that this would create cracks in Qatar’s internal cohesion — thus generating enough problems inside Doha to facilitate the idea of a soft coup against the emir of Qatar. Don Saoud and Fort Qatar (Click to enlarge) The tribal card Big and powerful tribes, such as al-Hawajer and al-Murrah, can be found on both sides of the border in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. At the very beginning of the crisis, King Salman of Saudi Arabia ordered the leaders of these tribes to be paid monthly bonuses of around $1800 to $2600 (...)

  • Tajikistan Agriculture Problem

    by Catherine BISSON-SERIAN

    Food Security and Political Stability in Tajikistan Raj Kumar VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd (2018) ISBN-10: 8193759133 ISBN-13: 978-8193759134 This book is an attempt to fill the academic void on Tajikistan, especially pertaining to its food security. This work traces the history of agriculture and food production in Tajikistan from mid-19th century when it came under Russian rule. There are links between food security and political stability as was evident during the world food crisis of 2007-08. Food riots were witnessed in a number of countries contributing to political instability. There are a number of (...)

  • Uzbekistan after Karimov

    by Alisher ILKHAMOV

    Karimov Dynasty Islam, Gulnara & Lola (Click to enlarge) First, right at the start of his period of rule, Karimov allocated additional domestic land plots to the population, which enabled many families to keep body and soul together at a time of great economic hardship. This also allowed the political situation to stabilize. However, the benefits of this move have long since been exhausted. By the start of the new millennium, the majority of the population had turned to labour migration as their primary strategy for economic survival. Second, Karimov should be credited with refusing to play the (...)

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