In The News

China Rising: Have Cash, Buy Oil

Dilip Hiro October 9, 2009
While the global financial crisis has left much of the Western world in disarray, China’s position remains strong with a stockpile of cash ready to acquire cheap assets. In many cases, these assets are natural resources, especially hydrocarbons. According to author Dilip Hiro, Beijing’s acquisition strategy seeks to insulate itself from the vagaries of raw material price fluctuation while...

The Demise of the Dollar

Robert Fisk October 6, 2009
Veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk reports that “secret meetings” between Russia, China, Japan, Brazil and some Arab States have occurred to discuss the possibility of pricing a barrel of oil in a basket of currencies rather than US dollars. Some believe such a development, if true, might ignite a new economic war between the US and China, which consumes more oil than the US on the...

Oil or Trees? Germany Takes Lead in Saving Ecuador's Rainforest

Jess Smee July 1, 2009
Yasuni National Park protects the Ecuador’s rainforest and is one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. Ecuador’s largest known oil reserves, worth an estimated $6 billion, also happen to lie underneath the park. Oil is a key product for Ecuador, producing around a third of the nation’s income. The Ecuadorian government has pledged to leave the oil untapped if the international community...

The Ties That Bind

Nayan Chanda February 26, 2009
Globalization has suffered two setbacks. First, skyrocketing prices for oil and the financial crisis which destroyed trillions of dollars of wealth and sent the whole world into a recession. Evoking World War I and the Great Depression, observers such as Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf suggested that the economic crisis will stoke protectionism and nationalism and therefore halt...

The Anti-West: An Axis in Need of Oiling

October 28, 2008
Iran, Russia and Venezuela collaborated on some security matters designed to keep the US in its place, but have since discovered the need for an economically strong US. A global economic crisis that began in the US, starting with a decline in housing prices and the default of high-risk mortgages, expanded into a credit freeze and a decline in oil prices. Sinking oil prices or limited output...

Unpopular President

August 26, 2008
Indonesia’s president reduced government subsidies for fuel in May, causing fuel prices to jump and his popularity among voters sank. But the coalition government continues an anti-poverty platform, including subsidized rice for the poor – and that combined with an ample supply could mitigate some economic complaints. Polls suggest that voters favor secular parties over those with Islamic roots...

New Energy Frontiers Expand Global Connections – Part II

Alexis Ringwald August 19, 2008
Necessity is the mother of invention, and that holds true for a global economy that depends on a declining supply of fossil fuels. As a result, innovations in new alternative sources could emerge from fast-growing developing nations that lack fossil fuels and cannot afford the rising prices, suggests this YaleGlobal series. The second article of the series focuses on trends toward renewable...