Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Iranian Elections (March 7, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady On February 26, Iran held two elections, one for parliament and the other for the Council of Experts. The former is Iran’s legislative body, and the latter is the part of government that monitors the Supreme Leader and selects his replacement if he dies, becomes incapacitated or is removed. Since the 1979… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Brexit (February 29, 2016)
by Kaisa Stucke, CFA The U.K. joined the European Common Market, what is now known as the EU, in 1973. In 1992, the Maastricht Treaty formally created the EU. However, as part of the treaty, the U.K. negotiated that it would be exempt from adopting the euro and joining the Eurozone. Despite the EU’s founding premise… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The 2016 Election: An Update (February 22, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady Almost two years ago we published a series on the 2016 elections. In these three reports we suggested that rising discontent among the electorate could increase the odds of electing a president that may turn America away from the superpower role. Although there have been a number of surprises in the current nominating… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Russia’s Struggles (February 8, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady Over the past year, Russia has faced a growing number of challenges that have the potential to weaken President Putin’s hold on the reins of power. In this report, we will discuss recent trends in the country, including the economic problems caused by falling oil prices and the military operations occurring in Ukraine… Read More »
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 »