By Michael Snyder I was absolutely stunned to learn that the Baltic Dry Shipping Index had plummeted to a new all-time record low of 504 at one point on Thursday. I have written a number of articles lately about the dramatic slowdown in global trade, but I didn’t realize that things had gotten quite this … Continue reading
By Andrew Korybko Russia is in the midst of a transformational geo-economic pivot, whereby its previous Western-prioritized economic relations are rapidly moving towards Asia. As part of this historic shift, Russia seeks to spearhead three North-South vectors of trade, with the subject of this article being the one directed towards ASEAN. The Asian Sea Arc, as … Continue reading
By Michael Snyder When the global economy is doing well, the amount of stuff that is imported and exported around the world goes up, and when the global economy is in recession, the amount of stuff that is imported and exported around the world goes down. It is just basic economics. Governments around the world … Continue reading
By Vijay Prashad On September 22, a seemingly nondescript meeting was held in Tehran, Iran: The Road Maintenance and Transportation Organisation (RMTO) held its first expert meeting for the Iran-India-Afghanistan Agreement on Transit and International Transportation Cooperation. Bureaucratic acronyms and legalistic language abounds. None of this seems – on the surface – to be greatly important. But this … Continue reading
By Alistair McIlgorm Amid growing demand for seafood, gas and other resources drawn from the world’s oceans, and growing stresses from climate change, we examine some of the challenges and solutions for developing “the blue economy” in smarter, more sustainable ways. As the world’s land-based economies struggle with annual rates of around 2% growth in Gross … Continue reading
Egypt’s new Suez Canal officially opened on Thursday and is set to pave for stronger cooperation between China-Egypt and benefit regional and global trade in addition to conjoining with China’s New Silk Road initiative. China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, known as the Belt and Road initiatives — and also known as the New Silk Road which was proposed by Chinese … Continue reading
By Pepe Escobar You may have heard of the N-11. Yes, it’s another clever Goldman Sachs concoction, to the benefit of that prized specimen – the “global investor”. These are the next BRICS, the new emerging powers. The N-11 is made up of: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam. Some … Continue reading
By Taylor Butch The Nicaraguan canal, once completed, will be deeper, wider, and nearly three times as long as the Panama canal, and this waterway is expected to transform Central America and the surrounding region. Construction of the $50 billion, 172-mile-long waterway that would transport goods between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean broke ground on … Continue reading
The EU’s crisis-prone periphery has largely welcomed China’s financial penetration of Europe. That’s not a sentiment shared by the Eurozone’s leading states, observes Nicola Casarini. They’re concerned that Chinese investments will make it difficult for Brussels to adopt critical stances against Beijing in the future. By Nicola Casarini China’s financial footprint is spreading across Europe, … Continue reading
By Peter Symonds The latest US maritime strategic document, “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower: Forward, Engaged, Ready,” released yesterday, makes clear that Washington is pressing ahead with its “pivot to Asia” and military build-up against China. In doing so, the US is continuing to stoke up tensions in the East and South China seas, … Continue reading