Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Trump & Trade: The First Year (February 5, 2018)
by Bill O’Grady President Trump has been in office for just over one year, having been inaugurated on January 20, 2017. He campaigned on a populist agenda—anti-globalism was a core message. Specifically, his “America First” mantra railed against free trade deals, suggesting they were poorly negotiated, supported immigration restrictions and called on allies to shoulder more… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Thinking the Unthinkable (Again): Part II (January 29, 2018)
by Bill O’Grady Last week, we published the first part[1] of this report looking at how the U.S. and other nations are changing their policies toward nuclear weapons. This is something of a refresh of a report we did seven years ago.[2] Since we published this earlier report, we have seen an increase in actual and… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Thinking the Unthinkable (Again): Part I (January 22, 2018)
by Bill O’Grady Seven years ago we published a WGR on nuclear war and civil defense.[1] Over the past seven years, we have seen an increase in actual and potential nuclear proliferation. Both the Obama and Trump administrations have either reviewed or are reviewing their policies on nuclear weapons and we are clearly seeing a departure… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Iranian Protests (January 8, 2018)
by Bill O’Grady (N.B. Due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, our next report will be published January 22, 2018.) In early December, small protests developed in parts of Iran due to sharp increases in some food prices. By the last week of 2017, the protests had spread across the country and have continued into the… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The 2018 Geopolitical Outlook (December 18, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady (N.B. This will be the last WGR of 2017. Our next report will be published January 8, 2018.) 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… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Moving Fast and Breaking Things: Mohammad bin Salman, Part III (December 11, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady In Part I of this report, we began with a brief background of Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) and discussed the surprise arrests of many leading figures in Saudi society, including several members of the royal family, that occurred the weekend of November 4. In Part II, we examined the forced resignation of Saad… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Moving Fast and Breaking Things: Mohammad bin Salman, Part II (December 4, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady Two weeks ago, we introduced this report and covered the mass arrests that took place in Saudi Arabia over the weekend of November 4, when several princes and notable figures were detained. The official reason given for the arrests was corruption, but many have speculated that the move was a cover for Mohammad… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Moving Fast and Breaking Things: Mohammad bin Salman, Part I (November 20, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady (N.B.: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the next edition of this report will be published December 4.) Last summer, King Salman surprised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by demoting Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef and replacing him with one of the king’s sons, Mohammad bin Salman (MbS).[1] In the months preceding the… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Situation in Catalonia: Part II (November 13, 2017)
by Thomas Wash In Part I of our report, we examined the historical background of the Catalan independence movement. This week, we will continue our discussion by summarizing the constitutional crisis, identifying the significant players and their motives, noting the possible outcomes and concluding with market ramifications. Constitutional Crisis: A Summary In addition to the historical… Read More »