Saturday, December 28

Types of News: Analysis

Deeper analysis on world diplomacy, economics and geopolitics.

Free Press Dies in Hong Kong As China Freezes Paper’s Assets
22Jun By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Democracy, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Analysis

Free Press Dies in Hong Kong As China Freezes Paper’s Assets

June 22, 2021--The writing may have already been on the wall for the forced closure of the Apple Daily paper when China passed its security law. But the news yesterday that China's strong-arm control of Hong Kong would force the pro-democracy tabloid to shut down still stung like an unexpected bite. In the past week, Hong Kong authorities froze the paper's financial assets, arrested two of the paper's senior executives and raided the paper's offices. Unable to pay staff or operations, the paper is expected to close within days. The forced closure of the paper made headline news around the world on Monday. And in Hong Kong, it represents "the biggest sledgehammer blow to Hong Kong's fast-vanishing civil liberties" since the handover to China in 1997, an editorial in the Apple Daily sa...
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Is the Sky Turning Red Over EU-Member Hungary?
4May By Patti MohrNo Comments
Democracy, Diplomacy, Geopolitics, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Types of News: Analysis

Is the Sky Turning Red Over EU-Member Hungary?

Hungary And China Strengthen Ties, Will Build Chinese University In Budapest May 4, 2021--As tensions rise between China and the West, one European Union-member country is drawing ever closer to Asia's Red Dragon: Hungary. Situated between seven countries in Central Europe, Hungary is a key outpost of the 27-member European Union. Lately, however, the country appears to be falling out with its European allies and drawing closer to communist China. Hungary Leaning East In March, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban broke with the rest of the EU consensus on COVID-19 by ordering China's Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik V vaccines. Later that month, Hungary's President Janos Ader met with his Chinese leaders in Budapest and promised to strengthen relations with China on trade, econ...
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Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting
22Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Global Trade, Political Systems, Domestic Politics, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Kid Gloves Come Off At US-China Meeting

March 22, 2021--The kid-gloves came off at the first in-person meeting between the United States and China under the new U.S. administration. In a sign that tensions between the world's two largest economies are rising, the diplomats exchanged political punches from the beginning. They met first in front of cameras at the beginning of two-day strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska. Typically, televised remarks might be a brief exchange of niceties. But , this exchange was anything but typical. It wasn't brief. And it wasn't polite. In fact, the opening remarks turned into an extended exchange of insults and condemnations between the countries' top diplomats. The United States launched the first blows. U.S. Cites Concerns on Hong Kong, Human Rights and Coercion U.S. Secr...
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WHO Mission Gives China Political Win, Overlooks Evidence About Bats in Wuhan Lab
15Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Analysis

WHO Mission Gives China Political Win, Overlooks Evidence About Bats in Wuhan Lab

February 15, 2021--Over a year after the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization concluded a four-week investigatory mission in Wuhan, China, making comments favoring the Chinese government's narrative. It was a political win for China and a significant loss for science. In almost a surreal and surprising outcome, the mission team downplayed the possibility the virus started in a Wuhan lab and pointed to other theories popular in China. "All the work that has been done on the virus and trying to identify its origin continue to point to a natural reservoir of this virus and similar virus in bat population," said Peter Ben Embarek, the head of the WHO Mission in Wuhan. "But since Wuhan is not a city or environment close to this bat environment, a direct ...
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Leaders at Digital G20 Summit Pledge Global Cooperation
24Nov By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Types of News: Analysis

Leaders at Digital G20 Summit Pledge Global Cooperation

Nov. 24, 2020--The overriding theme at this year's G20 Summit was cooperation, not only on controlling the global pandemic but also a vast array of economic and social issues. Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga promised to "lead international society in realizing a decarbonized world" to address climate change, while Chinese President Xi Jinping called for cooperation on trade, low tariffs and a global governance system for the digital economy. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the host, praised the governments for injecting over $11 trillion into the global economy and providing debt relief to the most vulnerable countries. Lengthy List of Goals Overall, the final Leaders Declaration addresses the following: the digital economy, trade and investme...
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GUEST POST: The Shattering of Global Oil
28Apr By Guest WriterNo Comments
Energy Policy, Oil & Gas, Type of News: Guest Post, Types of News: Analysis

GUEST POST: The Shattering of Global Oil

By Peter Zeihan Oil demand is relatively inelastic. That’s a fancy-schmancy economic term that means people and firms’ energy demand doesn’t vary very much from day-to-day or even year-to-year. Driving to work is perhaps the most accessible example. You do it every workday. If you don’t, you don’t work. And so you drive. Your gasoline demand is stable. Inelastic. Doesn’t matter much if gasoline sells for $1 or $4. On the price side, this means the “normal” rules of supply and demand barely apply. Even minor shifts in supply or demand have wildly outsized impacts on price. We’re used to seeing this as a shortage. China booms and oil prices go up. Iran and Iraq go to war and prices go up. Derivatives trading enters the world of oil and prices go up. Geopolitical Shocks to Oil Pr...
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COVID-19, From Bats to Humans: Examining the Wuhan Connection
17Apr By Patti MohrNo Comments
Communism, Dictatorship, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Analysis

COVID-19, From Bats to Humans: Examining the Wuhan Connection

April 17, 2020--A great and tragic mystery of 2020 is the origin of the COVID-19 virus that is sweeping the world with sickness and death. Some researchers point to a seafood market in Wuhan. Others say it could have started in a Chinese lab in Wuhan. Most certainly, it came from bats. But how did it jump to humans? From Wuhan to the World To date, the COVID-19 virus that has infected over 2 million people worldwide and killed 149,000 people. Of the first 309 confirmed cases in China, 270 cases were confirmed in Wuhan. Of the first 41 patients hospitalized in Wuhan with the virus, 27 of them, 66 percent, had a connection to a food and wild animal market. Wholesale Food Market As early as December 2019, reports from China pointed to the connection to the Huanan Seafood Wholes...
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Afghanistan Peace Unlikely, As U.S. Exits Trillion-Dollar War
6Mar By Patti MohrNo Comments
Geopolitics, Types of News: Analysis

Afghanistan Peace Unlikely, As U.S. Exits Trillion-Dollar War

March 6, 2020--In the days following the U.S.-Taliban agreement, violent attacks in Afghanistan show that an intense battle is underway for control of the country. On Saturday, U.S. representatives signed an agreement with and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, otherwise known as the Taliban, in Doha, Qatar. The deal promises to "bring peace to Afghanistan." But in the week that followed, attacks by Taliban forces and other gunmen shed blood of Afghan troops, government officials and civilians. On Wednesday, the Taliban conducted a wave of attacks across the country. And today, an attack by gunmen against the Afghan government killed at least 27 people and wounded 29 others. Talks between the Afghan government and Taliban are scheduled to start on Tuesday, March 10. Today, ...
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Iran Reacts with Defiance to New U.S. Deterrence Strategy
17Jan By Patti MohrNo Comments
Middle East, Sanctions, Types of News: Analysis

Iran Reacts with Defiance to New U.S. Deterrence Strategy

Jan. 17, 2020-Immediate tensions between the United States and Iran subsided since the two country's attacks and counter-attacks in Iraq earlier this month. While war between the two countries appears less imminent, the path forward points to either inevitable conflict or backdoor diplomacy. Today, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conducted a rare Friday speech in which he condemned the United States and defended his country's missile attacks against U.S. military bases in Iraq. The strikes inadvertently downed a Ukrainian passenger plane. The United States, meanwhile, intensified its sanctions against Iran, adding Iranian military and political officials and companies trading in Iran's metals industry to its already-large list of sanctioned individuals and entities. ...
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New Year Starts With Middle East Meltdown
7Jan By Patti MohrNo Comments
Middle East, Types of News: Analysis

New Year Starts With Middle East Meltdown

January 7, 2020-A week into the new year, mounting tension in the Middle East is giving way to major political changes. Lying between Iran and Syria and Lebanon, Iraq is at the center of a battle for influence and control between a U.S.-led coalition and Iran. As pressure mounts, leaders from both countries have been high on rhetoric and low on strategy. Their primary goals appear to be to push the presence of the other out of Iraq. Killing Soleimani In a dramatic escalation of the geopolitical conflict between the United States and Iran, a U.S. military drone strike on January 2 near Bagdad killed top Iranian militia commander Qasem Soleimani. "We got him," U.S. President Donald Trump said at a political rally days later. He justified the strike by saying Soleimani was pla...
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