In September last year, when the mother and younger brother of Greek-Nigerian NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo were granted honorary Greek citizenship in a special ceremony in Athens, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in attendance. When historian Mark Mazower received the honour in January, Interior Minister Makis Voridis was present, while …
Read More »Crypto Is More In Step With Asia’s Equities, Highlighting Need For Regulation – Analysis
Crypto trading volume, and co-movement with equity markets, has surged in the region. Few parts of the world have embraced crypto assets like Asia, where top adopters include individual and institutional investors from India to Vietnam and Thailand. This raises the important issue of the extent of integration of crypto …
Read More »The US–China ‘Standard-Off’ Over Technology – Analysis
The US–China technology rivalry became overt when a dispute erupted over 5G and Huawei after Washington designated Huawei as an embargoed company on its ‘Entity List’ in May 2019. At the centre of the dispute are standards underpinning the fifth generation of mobile network technology. China is overtaking the United …
Read More »Iran To Boost Oil Production Capacity By 200,000 Bpd By Early 2023
The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mohsen Khojastemehr stated on Friday that the country is planning to increase its oil production capacity by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) by March 2023. Speaking to IRNA, Khojastemehr noted that that raise would bring Iran’s capacity to more than …
Read More »US Economy Adds 315,000 Jobs In August, But Unemployment Rises To 3.7 Percent – Analysis
The August employment report gave a somewhat mixed picture as the establishment survey showed a strong gain of 315,000 jobs, while the household survey showed the unemployment rate rising by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7 percent. However, the picture given by both surveys is somewhat more complicated. In the case …
Read More »When Israel Struck Syria’s Reactor: What Really Happened – Analysis
When I joined Ehud Olmert’s government on June 18, 2007, as minister of defense, it was almost three months since planning of the destruction of the Syrian reactor in Deir az-Zor had begun (in late March). I was aware of this activity, having been briefed in late April about the …
Read More »Pelosi’s Visit And The New Normal In Taiwan
Background Businesses are rightly more concerned now over the outbreak of hostilities in the Taiwan Strait and its impact on physical security, assets/investments, and business continuity. Given the Chinese response to US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s 2-3 Aug 2022 visit to Taiwan, the risk of significant business disruption …
Read More »Watching The War On Russian Television – Analysis
Those watching Russian television to follow the war in Ukraine live in an alternative reality. Commentators on state-owned Russian television news stations have spread the falsehood that Ukraine is staging fake attacks on their own cities to make it look like Russia is the aggressor. Russian news broadcasters have also …
Read More »Iraqi PM Threatens To Quit Over Ongoing Political Violence
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Tuesday threatened to resign due to the violence that has broken out among Shi’ite factions over a long-standing political conflict. In a televised speech, al-Kadhimi said, “The Iraqi blood that was shed yesterday sends a warning to every Iraqi that today we must put …
Read More »US And Russia’s Attempt To Rule The Heartland Of Greater Eurasia
With the end of the bipolar order, classical geopolitical theories as the main basis of the foreign policy of the powers during the Cold War seem to have declined in importance. The Ukraine crisis showed that these theories are still a suitable tool for analyzing the competition of great powers …
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