Recommended Weekend Reading
April 28 - 30, 2023
Here are our recommended reads from reports we read in the last week. Let us know your thoughts and if you or a colleague want to be added to our distribution list. We apologize for sending this out late – we’ve been too busy marveling at our first grandchild! We hope you find these useful and have a great weekend. And let us know if you or someone you know wants to be added to our distribution list.
· “Frozen Frontiers: China’s Great Power Ambitions in the Polar Regions” Center for Strategic and International Studies
In this interactive report, CSIS scholars chronicle how China’s pursuit of great power status is drawing it to the frozen reaches of the world’s polar regions. In both the Arctic and Antarctic, China has undertaken ambitious expeditions and developed world-class research facilities. These investments have elevated China’s voice in polar affairs and afforded it an opportunity to shape the emerging geopolitical landscape. Its growing physical footprint in the world’s most remote frontiers also serves to advance China’s broader strategic and military interests.
· “The Wagner Group’s Expanding Global Footprint” Foreign Policy Research Institute
Much has been reported on the Russian military’s use of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary army run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, in the War on Ukraine. But beyond Ukraine, where and what does the Wagner Group do? In this report, we see that Wagner is the Russian state’s backroom dealer in Africa. Prigozhin aggressively is found to cuts deals with African junta leaders promising counterterror assistance for access to resources. And that has a direct impact on the global commodity markets, especially as the US and other nations seek to acquire rare earth minerals.
· “On frontier of new ‘gold rush,’ quest for coveted EV metals yields misery” Washington Post
One of the poorest countries on Earth has become a crucial player in the world’s green-energy transition. Guinea, a West African nation of more than 13 million people, is home to the world’s biggest reserves of bauxite — a reddish-brown rock that is the main source of aluminum. That lightweight metal, in turn, is essential for electric vehicles because it allows them to travel farther without recharging than if they were made of steel. And over the current decade, when experts expect global sales of EVs to increase almost ninefold, demand for aluminum will jump nearly 40 percent to 119 million tons annually, industry analysts say. But the people of Guinea are paying a steep price as the natural habitat is being destroyed, farmland is made useless, and the locals are getting little to no compensation.
· “Venezuela: Remittances as a Source of Foreign Exchange and Economic Survival” The Inter-American Dialogue
The Migration, Remittances, and Development Program’s Remittance Industry Observatory (RIO) features new data on remittances in Venezuela. The data release underscores the increasing importance of remittances to the country in the context of increased emigration and political instability. Remittances reached US$4.2 billion in 2022 and are now received by an estimated 29 percent of Venezuelan households. Despite the volume, remittances are almost entirely transmitted through unlicensed providers, and a disproportionate amount originates from the US.
Chart of the Week
Russia’s Backdoor Supply of Oil to Europe
Bloomberg reported this week on how India has become a top supplier of fuel to Europe. But India does not drill for oil so where it is coming from? Russia. India has been snapping up cheap Russian crude – for as much as a 40 percent discount – and is now shipping it to Europe for a marketup.
