Oil powers almost all transportation—and Covid-19 will only intensify its dominance.
By Dr. James M. Dorsey, May 18, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Combatting the coronavirus pandemic and coping with its economic fallout may be Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s most immediate challenge. Equally urgent is repairing strained relations with the US and ensuring the kingdom’s competitiveness with Iran as the two rivals compete for China’s favor.
Continue to full article ->
Lebanon is on the brink of collapse: People are starving, the nation’s de facto Hezbollah government is still doing Iran’s bidding, and vultures from Beijing are circling. So why do we care? In a Dispatch op-ed, Danielle Pletka argues that if not for the people, for the selfish reason that the country unmanaged would become an operational beachhead for terrorism, a field for great-power rivals, and a black hole from which no good can emanate. If not, Lebanon promises to join the ranks of Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and others in becoming another nexus of global threat and local misery. And Lebanon is well on its way. Read here.
As governments seek to reopen economies from lockdown restrictions, the trajectory of recovery remains unknown. In an op-ed for the King Faisal Center, Karen Young notes that for the Gulf states, economic recovery will depend a great deal on global oil market demand to stabilize. However, for the Gulf states, a lot is on the line in China, and it will be Beijing’s economic recovery that will set the pace for the Gulf. Continue here.