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Middle East/North Africa Politics

High unemployment forces Tunisians into smuggling

With a new constitution hailed as the most liberal in the Arab world, Tunisia seems to be on a path to democracy. Staggering unemployment and economic woes, however, have led to

Economics South and Central Asia

Tough times ahead for Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s year ahead is fraught with political and economic risk, even as the nation hopes to join the Eurasian Union, which launches in 2015. Border disputes with the neighboring post-Soviet

Economics Europe

Norway’s falling housing prices threaten growth

Negative prognoses based on falling housing prices may not, in fact, spell disaster for the Norway’s economy. Yet, dependency on oil is a continuous policy problem that the new government

International Natural resources and energy

Investment in carbon industry increasingly exposed to environmental risks

Ignoring environment-related risks could trigger the next financial crisis. Oil companies and other carbon industry investors are exposed to some $7 bn in liabilities as a result of investing in “stranded

Finance International

Risk management is at the core of strategy development

Strategy does not just happen. It is the result of a systematic process and risk management is at the core. Strategy is a dynamic process characterized by three distinct stages:

Asia Pacific Finance

U.S. Fed holds the fuse to Singapore’s bubble time bomb

The United States’ monetary policy has far-reaching, sometimes unintended consequences, and these past few years have seen unprecedented liquidity injections from the Fed. One way the stimulus manifests itself is

North America Politics

U.S. Congress allows R&D tax credit to expire

If the credit is extended sometime in 2014 it may not affect companies’ research departments, but it still will throw uncertainty into earnings reports and tax management. On January 1,

International Natural resources and energy

Five political risk factors affecting oil markets in 2014

Predicting oil trends was always a precarious job, and 2014 will not be any different in that regard. But the year ahead could bring developments with longer-term consequences for the

Asia Pacific Natural resources and energy

China’s territorial sovereignty dispute is all about energy

China seeks energy security through its territorial claim to the possibly ‘natural resource rich’ areas of the South China Sea, jeopardising diplomatic relations with the remaining five countries, who also

Security Sub-Saharan Africa

Central African Republic’s president leaves, but problems remain

The past year has been volatile and violent in the Central African Republic, and things do not seem to be improving. Political and military changes are essential to avoid disaster.