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The Global Take | Is a default in USA possible? | Spotlight Ukraine

The United States of America has been borrowing more money than it has been earning for decades. This has led to concerns about the country’s ability to repay its debts and the possibility of default. In the case of the United States, default would have serious economic consequences both domestically and internationally. To shed more

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Putin’s ‘Gambler’ Mentality is a Wild Card in Global Energy Markets

The Cipher Brief recently spoke with Ariel Cohen, director of the Energy Growth and Security Program at the International Tax and Investment Center, about the spillover of the war into a global energy crisis and what that means for 2023, when Cohen says we may experience “the toughest circumstance in Europe probably since World War II.” Read more

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Chile’s Nationalization Of Lithium : “Green Protectionism” Endangering Energy Transition

The nationalization of industry isn’t the only thing Boric promised. According to Boric’s plan, the new, state-owned company is more than simply the long arm of the government collecting profit from a natural resource. It bets on an emerging technology called the Direct Lithium Extraction process (DLE). While DLE performed well in controlled environments, it is still

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Where In The World Are Putin’s Billionaire Cronies?

While Putin may no longer see the utility in showing unity with Russia’s business elite, going from “unshakable unity” in March 2022 to imploring “patriotism over profit” in March 2023, this does not mean they are unimportant. After being banned from traveling to most Western nations, these oligarchs lost 97 billion dollars and counting. Sanctions deeply hurt the

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Central Asia: An Emerging Food And Energy Supplier For The World

The West must understand the groundswell of anti-Russian sentiment that is sweeping Central Asia while understanding the structural constraints facing these governments. An Atlantic Council event “How can Kazakhstan and Central Asia power and feed the world?”, for a forthcoming report by Margarita Assenova, Ariel Cohen, and Wesley Alexander Hill elucidates many of these problems

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Russia’s fingerprints are on Sudan coup attempt

Russia’s influence in Africa remains purely disruptive and predatory. The Kremlin will use Wagner as a cudgel to secure natural resources across Africa and push the U.S. out, just as they evicted France. To keep up, Washington should expand diplomatic engagement, intelligence operations, and sanctioning of all entities linked to Wagner in Africa. Continue reading here.

Investment In Batteries Can Supercharge Renewables

Power production will remain CO2 positive no matter how many wind turbines or solar panels we install until fusion is cracked. Long-term storage methods are required to fill energy baseload gaps in renewable generation, creating solutions for key technological and economic challenges surrounding the renewable energy transition. Continue reading here.

Russia’s Kowtowing To China: Energy And Beyond

On its one-year anniversary of invading Ukraine, Russian gas sales were halved compared to before the war. Russia hoped that Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow would allow for some relief. Xi did deliver some flowery language, stating “Right now there are changes – the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years – and we are the ones

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