Category: Country Reports
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January 2025
December 2024 Has underlined Mexico’s delicate balancing of domestic reforms and international pressures. President Sheinbaum has advanced labour and wage policies to strengthen her political base while mitigating the impact on business. Migration strategies combined enforcement with protection, addressing U.S. demands but still safeguarding Mexican nationals abroad. Despite inflation stabilising at 4.5%, mixed consumer spending…
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December 2024
If last month was a bad one for the Islamic Republic (and it was), this month was truly وحشتناک or Vahshatnāk. Horrible. Iran now faces one of the most significant challenges to its regional strategy in decades, with key ally Assad’s fall marking a major blow to its influence and leaving its hardline factions grappling…
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November 2024
Kazakhstan’s attractiveness as a regional power house continues to shine. Tokayev is a master of global engagement in an exceptionally effective low key manner. There is no big national news to report on this month but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few significant things bubbling under the surface. Kazakhstan continues its commitment to the…
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November 2024
Nigeria has been battling its worst floods in 30 years. Hundreds have been killed and at least 1.3 million people displaced. The cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture cannot yet be calculated but it will be significant. As the waters subside we can see the carnage left behind and it is not just material.………
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November 2024
Israel counters, striking military targets in Tehran and elsewhere. The sites struck leave Iran without key air defences and severely damage its military-industrial base. Meanwhile Donald Trump’s return to the White House is likely to see an even more hostile approach to Iran. Israel strikes back. On 26th October, Israel launched the largest assault on…
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November 2024
Despite dwindling revenues from the Suez Canal, Egypt’s economy is holding its own and is looking better than it has in years. President Sisi may have been forced by the World Bank into implementing some of the financial policies now in place, but the seeds he planted are now beginning to bear fruit.…… Read the…
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December 2024
November 2024 presented a complex mix of optimism and challenges. The re-election of Trump as U.S. President has reignited tensions over trade policies, with both Trump and President Sheinbaum expressing a willingness to cooperate on shared issues, despite differences over tariffs. Sheinbaum’s proactive approach, emphasizing engagement with global investors, signals a continued commitment to Mexico's…
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October 2024
Pakistan remains a nation of polarised politics, military manipulation, a fragile economy and terror attacks. Whilst those challenges will persist, we are nonetheless seeing some good on the horizon. The military appears to be continuing to attempt to determine the course of governance and law but that is nothing new. However, we feel that a…
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October 2024
September and October (so far) have been busy months in Bangladesh. On the political front, the interim government has been battling hard to bring back some sense of normalcy, with mixed results. They have formed various sectoral committees to explore institutional issues and how to solve them across various aspects of the economy.…… Read the…
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October 2024
Kazakhstan’s position as a major player in Eurasia continues to grow but as we regularly say, its geographical location requires a tightrope like performance when it comes to foreign and economic policy decisions and implementations. President Tokayev is more than up to the task of walking the wire. He is keenly aware that should his…