Ross Hendin, CFP contributer and Principal of Hendin Consultants, has provided below a new chapter to the case study of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, involving the political risks Estonia and Poland are making when they use the slow pace of the plant’s progression as a catalyst to second-guess their energy dependence :
The Baltic Course joins a [...]

Ross Hendin, CFP contributer and Principal of Hendin Consultants, has provided below a new chapter to the case of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, involving where and how Russia can be Russia and step in:
ITAR-TASS is reporting that the Russian State-owned nuclear power company, Rosatom, will build a new nuclear reactor in the Baltics to [...]

A power shift from New York to Washington, from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, from Shanghai to Beijing. The fall of globalization and the rise of state capitalism. President Obama shifting global opinion of the US back out of the red, but its a shift that is blown far out of proportion. 
These were but a few [...]

Since the inauguration of Dmitri Medvedev, it is clear that western powers have shown greater optimism regarding the future of Russia. On the whole, the former Cold War foe has recently shown greater steps at economic and political transparency, albeit as compared to an era ran by a predecessor who seized and nationalized private corporations [...]

Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group and author of The J-Curve and his latest book, The Fat Tail: The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing, recently participated in an online discussion with the Washington Post to discuss how politics is increasingly driving the world economy and having direct implications for investors and multinational corporations. His most recent [...]

An interesting report was featured in Reuters and more recently on Gamebids.com, on the 2014 Olympics to be held in Sochi, Russia, costing 15 percent less than originally anticipated as initial budget estimates exaggerated the projected cost.
In a Reuters interview on Tuesday, March 11, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said the state will fund [...]

When turning on the television in the morning, one will no doubt catch glaring reminders that the world is entrenched in economic turmoil. The geopolitical chessboard will forever be reshaped, cast now in a multipolar mould. Christer Ljungwall has written an important analysis of China’s role in this new landscape, specifically pointing out that [...]

Twenty years after the Soviet Union’s collapse, Kazakhstan joins Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine in abandoning its attempts to prop up exchange rates. Kazakhstan’s economic growth has screeched to a near halt – down to 1 percent from 10 percent, their central bank devaluing the tenge by 18 percent and their four biggest banks being [...]

 
Here is a question: should we be relieved or even more worried by the announcement this week that the top three internet giants have adopted a common set of principals known as the Global Network Initiative (GNI), which promises greater protection of human rights and free speech with respect to each company’s business operations [...]

For years now I have closely followed developments at Russia’s Shtokman Field - a very large natural gas field in the Barent’s Sea. We have observed the Kremlin dangle the opportunity before several oil and gas multinationals, extracting the greatest political leverage possible. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports on the almost punitive [...]