MenuOn Dec. 3, China banned exporting critical minerals such as gallium, germanium, and antimony to the United States. This came in the wake of the Biden administration’s announcement of new restrictions on the sale of chips and specialized chip-making machinery and software to China the day before. This exchange is merely the latest round in the ongoing battle for
Category Archives: Geopolitics
New Sanctions Against Gazprombank: Too Little, Too Late
The U.S. Treasury has announced sanctions against Russia’s Gazprombank, a lending institution inexorably linked with Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom, along with fifty other small and medium-sized banks and forty securities registrars. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also issued a warning of sanctions risks for financial institutions joining Russia’s System for Transfer of
U.S. COPing Out Of Global Climate Leadership?
Clean energy shares in the United States experienced a significant decline following Donald Trump’s election to a second term. The WilderHill Clean Energy Index fell by 6.7%, with solar companies like Sunnova Energy International Inc. and Sunrun Inc. dropping as much as 51% and 29%, respectively. The timing of this downturn is unfortunate, as green
Russia’s Landmark BRICS Summit and the Specter of De-Dollarization
Last week saw a landmark summit of the BRICS group of nations, a nine-country economic bloc led by Moscow and Beijing, which drew representatives from 36 countries, including 22 heads of state. Held from Oct. 22 to Oct. 24 in the Russian city of Kazan, the event focused largely on “de-dollarization”—the idea of phasing out
China Bets On Leadership In The Green Tech Frontier
At the 2024 BRICS summit, China claimed that its advances in Green Tech serve as a “valuable reference” for the bloc and the globe. While Beijing talks a good game about its investments in renewables as an engine of domestic and global economic growth, the realities of China’s sluggish economy suggest otherwise. Earlier this month, China
The Summit Of The Future’s Vision: Will It Help The Energy-Poor Now?
Following the latest United Nations General Assembly, the UN Summit of the Future adopted the “Pact for the Future,” a document filled with ambitious pledges to tackle climate change, peace and security, and global inequalities. Secretary General of the UN Guterres proclaimed the pact a “’once in a generation’ opportunity to renew multilateral cooperation”. The
Iran Threatens To Hold Global Energy Hostage
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s support of Iran’s aggression against Israel at a meeting with the Islamic Republic’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on October 11th in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Russia is boosting Iran’s military-industrial complex by purchasing thousands of ballistic missiles and “suicide” drones for its war in Ukraine. Putin’s statement comes after Iran launched some
A Year After October 7, Iran is Still the Problem
I arrived in Israel with plans to spend the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, with my daughter and son-in-law. Instead, we spent two nights in a bomb shelter. The first missile salvo was launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon. Then came nearly 200 ballistic missiles launched by Iran and aimed at Israel’s major cities and towns. On Monday,
Energy Revenue Fuels A War-Time Moscow Boom
Hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into Russia from oil and gas sales are fueling Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, and more. Unbeknownst to some diplomats and other decision-makers, energy export revenues drive the massive geo-economic polarization between East and West, as petro and gas dollars pour into the Russian tech sector. Russia’s capital—and especially
America’s Self-Inflicted Wound In Central Asia
In Central Asia, everyone appears to be moving to secure riches and interests. Japan has just conducted an investment summit with the Central Asian states to develop economic opportunities, China’s Xi is expanding business ties, the EU is inaugurating a new strategic summit, and Vladimir Putin will be visiting in November. The world understands Central