Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Trouble in Taiwan (February 1, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady Taiwan held elections on January 16th and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a resounding victory over the Kuomintang (KMT). This election will likely raise tensions between Taiwan and Mainland China (People’s Republic of China, PRC). In this report, we will begin with a history of Taiwan. Next, we will recap the election… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Italy’s Banking Crisis (January 25, 2016)
by Kaisa Stucke, CFA On January 1, 2016, the EU implemented a new bank restructuring directive. The new and stricter rules are aimed at forcing private stock, bond and deposit holders to accept losses before public funds would be used in a bank restructuring. Although all EU countries are affected by these new rules, Italy remains… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Saudi Executions (January 11, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady On January 2, Saudi Arabia executed 47 people accused of various crimes against the state. Of this unfortunate group, 46 were Sunni jihadist radicals and one was a Shiite cleric, Sheik Nimr al-Nimr. Al-Nimr’s execution set off protests in Iran and the Saudi Embassy in Tehran was sacked. In response, the Saudis broke… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The 2016 Geopolitical Outlook (December 14, 2015)
by Bill O’Grady As is our custom, we close out the current year with our outlook for the next one. This report is less a series of predictions as it is a list of potential geopolitical issues that we believe will dominate the international landscape in the upcoming year. It is not designed to be exhaustive;… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Evolution of IS (December 7, 2015)
by Bill O’Grady An Islamic State (IS) affiliate downed Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 in October. In November, IS-affiliated terrorists launched a series of attacks in Paris. These two events suggest a significant change in the behavior of IS. Prior to the Paris attacks, IS appeared to be focused on building a caliphate in Syria and Iraq. … Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Putin and Flight 9268 (November 23, 2015)
by Bill O’Grady On October 31st, Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 took off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at 5:58 local time en route to St. Petersburg, Russia. Within 25 minutes, the aircraft, an Airbus A321, disappeared from radar over central Sinai. By the time radar contact was lost, the aircraft had reached its cruising altitude of 33,000… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Political Turmoil in Portugal (November 16, 2015)
by Kaisa Stucke, CFA Portugal held parliamentary elections on October 4, 2015, in which the incumbent center-right Social Democratic Party received the most votes but fell short of an outright majority. Historically, as part of the Portuguese political process, the country’s president tasks the party that receives the most votes with forming a government. However, in… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – EU Migrant Crisis: Focus on Hungary (November 2, 2015)
by Kaisa Stucke, CFA There is no doubt that the EU migrant crisis is a catastrophe in terms of human costs. It is fairly evident that the EU was not prepared to deal with the magnitude of migrant movement into the region. This crisis also presents a political dilemma for Europe and may lead to the… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Obama Doctrine: Moneyball America (October 26, 2015)
by Bill O’Grady Over the past three years, we have witnessed what appears to be a steady erosion of American power. Russia annexed the Crimea and has encouraged a rebellion in eastern Ukraine, undermining the sovereignty of a European nation. This apparent invasion was considered by Western observers to be the first hostile acquisition of territory… Read More »