By Jiri and Leni Friedman Valenta
 
The downing of Malaysian Flight 17 is a watershed in Russo-American relations.  It´s similar to the downing of KL007.  Like Ronald Reagan 32 years earlier, Barack Obama must overhaul  his policy towards Russia! Instead of a commander- in-fundraising, we need a commander-in-chief.  As…

So many American politicians upset with the Israelis for the attacks on Gaza. .....Using weapons largely obtained through the United States... .....hmmmmm.....does that mean America is responsible for the Gaza deaths?
President Putin is on the phone. He would like an answer to that question.

Part One:
Economic Development: First Steps, First Challenges
 
Russia’s annexation of Crimea on March 18, 2014 has raised issues related to the economic impact of such a move for Moscow. The takeover of the peninsula as well as Moscow’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis have sparked economic sanctions from the Euro-Atlantic…

After visit to Latin America, Putin no longer only a 'regional power' Jiri Valenta and Leni Valenta 8 hours ago       Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while leaving the BRICS-UNASUR Summit at Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil on July 16, 2014. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa held…

 
New sanctions were levied against Russia on July 16th by both the United States and the European Union. America has taken the lead in explaining the sanctions, claiming continued unrest in Eastern Ukraine is primarily because of tacit Russian support behind-the-scenes. This new round is a bit broader than the original sanctions from a few…

With the souring of relations between the United States and Russia, Russia has expressed its desire to become less dependent on the US dollar. This is an understandable concern, given the political tension between the two countries, coupled with the threat of tougher US Sanctions on the Russian economy[1]. Simply put, the Russian government knows that…

Currency Wars follows the actions of governments and central banks to manipulate their currencies and currency denominated securities to their advantage and to the disadvantages of foreign markets. At the present day the focus will be on China and the United States, as China has expressed concerns about the safety and reliability of the US dollar…

With leaders of the BRICS group gathering in Brazil to discuss socially inclusive growth and sustainable solutions the issue of accommodating the presence of Islamic populations within the alliance is missing from their agenda.
 
Avoiding an important conversation
The BRICS have branded the Brazil meetings as the beginning of the…

I am currently visiting Bangladesh for meetings with the Private Sector and Government Officials on sustainable economic development. Russia will be supplying Bangladesh with Nuclear technology for Energy production purposes. Bangladesh is a country that is starved of energy, and this stumps economic growth in all sectors. As an entrepreneur, when you…

On July 14-16, the heads of state of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will gather in Fortaleza and Brasilia for their sixth annual summit. It is, as the newly launched website proudly notes, the beginning of “the second cycle of BRICS.” What the authors intend is that, since each BRICS member state…

The views in this blog are, of course, solely the author's own, and do not represent the official views of either the U of Michigan, Ann Arbor, or its Energy Institute, of which the author has been a Fellow since 2008 or so. I have been following the world energy industry, and the oil industry in particular, on a daily basis, ever since my MBA thesis…

As much as the media eyes have been focus on Iraq and Syria where ISIL fighters – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – have secured devastating advances against both Iraq and Syria armed forces, Bahrain has been left to suffer, its people’s plight for justice ignored by the international community.  For well over three years…