In The News

Why Arabs Should Embrace China’s Silk Road

Naser al-Tamimi December 17, 2014
Rallying support for a modern-day Silk Road is a goal for China’s President Xi Jinping. In summer, only a few days after he spoke at the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, Islamic State extremists seized Mosul. Regional risk may run high, yet China has surpassed the United States as the leading importer of oil, notes analyst and author Naser al-Tamimi for Al Arabiya News. “China is now the Arab...

Chinese Agriculture Goes Global

Loro Horta December 16, 2014
China is a fast-growing emerging economy, developing competitive manufacturing and technology sectors, but its leaders must also feed the world’s largest population. China’s expanding middle class has more expensive tastes, demanding more meat, coffee, and fruits and vegetables like avocados, blueberries and more. “China is home to 22 percent of the world’s population, but possesses around 7...

Great Apes Facing “Direct Threat” From Palm Oil Farming

December 8, 2014
The booming palm oil industry is destroying habitats for orangutans as well as other endangered species like Asian rhinos and tigers, reports the news syndicate AFP. Palm oil’s expanded use in cosmetics and food products has encouraged deforestation and expansion of plantations in Southeast Asia and Africa. Activists suggest that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an industry organization...

Danish Canal Customers

Niveen Wahish December 3, 2014
The Suez and Panama canals are in competition as shipping traffic grows and container ships get bigger. With a new growing middle class throughout Asia, shipping containers are increasingly headed west to east rather than the other way around. Writing for Al-Ahram Weekly, Niveen Wahish reviews shippers’ concerns as expressed to Egyptian journalists attending a tour arranged by the Danish-Egyptian...

Afro-Optimism: Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far?

Raila Odinga December 2, 2014
Development and economic growth in Africa offer great potential, yet poverty, conflict, preventable infectious disease and other challenges remain. Leaders cannot rest easy, warns Raila Odinga, former prime minister of Kenya in an article based on his remarks during the Annual Coca-Cola World Fund Lecture at Yale University, October 9, 2014. Odinga reviews Africa’s many accomplishments over the...

Bud Crowded Out by Craft Beer Craze

Tripp Mickle November 27, 2014
Big-factory beers have fallen out of favor as customers increasingly demand the flavors offered with small and local craft beverages. Some bars no longer sell major brands like Budweiser. Meanwhile, many of the craft beer makers began as do-it-yourself home brewers, tinkering with recipes and relying on local ingredients. Young beer drinkers have flocked to the diverse flavors, paying more for...

Oil Prices Continue to Define Geopolitics

October 24, 2014
Oil prices are in decline around the globe, reflecting a slowdown in China and the eurozone combined with increased production in nations whose budgets and stability rely on steady revenues. OPEC, which controls about 40 percent of production, fails to coordinate. Low prices mean lower revenues, but also provide opportunity or greater market share. Stratfor Global Intelligence reviews the effect...