Author: Saliya Weerakoon

Kyrgyzstan will soon be issuing licenses for mining critical raw materials (CRM), which would have almost unthinkable five years ago. However, a lot has changed in Kyrgyzstan, where a new president came to power in late 2020 and has since radically changed the form of leadership and is seeking new sources of revenue. A lot has changed in the world also, as governments are realizing the importance of CRMs for their economies and are scrambling to find supplies. Past Experiences Kyrgyzstan does not have significant reserves of natural gas or oil as most of the other Central Asian countries do.…

On October 22, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin and Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nuriddin Azizi, signed a roadmap to increase Kazakh-Afghan trade turnover to $3 billion at a business forum in Almaty. This follows Kazakhstan’s removal of the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations in June as part of an effort to develop trade and economic ties with Afghanistan. The roadmap includes Kazakhstan’s participation in constructing two railway lines in Afghanistan: Turgundi—Herat—Kandahar—Spin Boldak and Mazar-i-Sharif—Harlachi. It also aims to expand the range of goods in bilateral trade, develop cooperation in the chemical industry, and increase the export of…

How does one man consistently get it right in Earth’s most unpredictable political stage play? Meet Allan J. Lichtman, a historian with a seemingly magical Midas touch who has been calling US Presidential Elections with eerie accuracy since 1984. While most political pundits and pollsters scramble to keep up with the tides of public opinion, Lichtman calmly unveils the future, his predictions as steady as a seasoned fortune teller’s gaze into a crystal ball. But how does he do it? Is he a modern-day Nostradamus, gifted with supernatural foresight, or is something deeper at play here? Lichtman’s method Lichtman’s method,…