Argus Geopolitical Intel

GEOPOLITICS: Gold - An outright Winner in the post-Covid Economy By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Google Indexed at 08:57 on 180820 With problems escalating in the Gulf not least the odd-ball tactics of Iran in the strait of Hormuz and the Mexican stand-off between Saudi-Arabia and Russia, on 25th May I wrote an article titled Is Gold still a resilient hedge to stem Geopolitical fallout? [17 March 2020 Pegged: €1331.00 per oz.] The article was to highlight my ongoing project to monitor the Geopolitical and Macroeconomic effect on Oil -v- "Spot" Gold prices and examine the resilience of Gold as the World started to feel the enormous Geopolitical impact of the Covid-19 Virus. Oil prices have suffered terribly at the hands of multiple Geopolitical actors not least the madcap antics of the Iranians in the Strait of Hormuz and the Mexican stand-off between Saudi Arabia and Russia which of course hasn't done Russia any favours let alone the p...

ENERGY: Turkey´s Erdogan lauds huge natural gas find as just the start By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Google Indexed at 10:22 on 240820 The Discovery of natural gas in the Black Sea deep under Turkey´s territorial waters will likely be followed by further discoveries, altering the geopolitics of energy trade in its region. In a statement President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that Turkey had struck gas deep under its territorial waters. "The work will continue for exploration as well as drilling at the same time. We're very hopeful that it will lead to other fields in the same area." Ankara's state-oil arm TPAO will continue offshore exploration near the 320 billion cubic metre Sakarya field where officials see "much greater potential" for hydrocarbons, Mr Kalin said in an interview at the presidential office in Istanbul on Saturday. The discovery announced by Mr Erdogan on Friday is already th...

CORONAVIRUS: Central Europe experiencing rise in cases as Scientists warn of second peak By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Google Indexed at 08:18 on 210820 Fears are growing in Central Europe of a second spike in the Coronavirus Pandemic as France reports a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases to 4,771, that is up a thousand on Wednesday's figure and is the first time more than 4,000 daily cases have been seen since May. The number of confirmed cases has been accelerating since mid-August. France has increased its testing capacity and carried out 664,000 tests over the past week, the health ministry said, but the rate of positive cases has also been increasing. It stood at 3.3% for the week between 11-17 August, up from 2.1% previously and more than double the 1.5% rate seen at the end of July. Officials say the virus is now mostly circulating in major cities among the young, who typically do not have serious symptoms, and this is why th...

GEOPOLITICAL NEWS: BOOK REVIEW - Is America on the brink of civil war? New book reveals foreign cyber role in current American instability - Review By Iain Fraser - Consultant Editor, GEOPoliticalMatters.com European News & Media Centre Málaga Google Indexed at 08:16 on 130720 GEOPOLITICAL NEWS :: BOOK REVIEW - Is America on the brink of civil war? GEOPOLITICAL NEWS :: BOOK REVIEW - Is America on the brink of civil war?  Could foreign cyber plots turn Americans against one another and cause a disastrous domestic conflict?  What would happen if the lights went out & the technology we rely upon to run America is no longer available? The present dangers are real. The US is more vulnerable to destructive foreign interference today than it has been in over a century. As Russia and China realize they can’t win shooting wars against the US, they have devised new and cunning ways to destabilize American politics and cripple the US economy. The dangers posed by external sources...

CORONAVIRUS: Chinese economy shows signs of recovery in post Covid Economy - Analysis By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Conspiracy theorists the world over have subscribed to a notion that China released the deadly Covid-19 virus to decimate the World economies but only a modicum of economics knowledge will show you why that would have been a terrible and unworkable theory. For China to thrive on the Global arena it has to sell its goods and products around the world - this is why the current trade-wars scenario currently being propagated against China by incumbent US President Donald Trump is so damaging. China’s economy appears to be bouncing back from the COVID-19 crisis. Chinese GDP grew by 3.2% in the second quarter of 2020, following a record 6.8% contraction in the first. Furthermore, in July, factory activity in China expanded at its fastest rate in nearly a decade. Government investment in infrastructure and real estate is one of the main f...

CORONAVIRUS: A Shot in the Arm for Putin - The Geopolitics of Russia’s vaccine claim GeoTech Cues by Claire Branley - Atlantic Council www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Google Indexed at 08:42 on 140820       ATLANTIC COUNCIL: President Vladimir Putin announced on August 11 that a coronavirus vaccine manufactured by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Moscow had been granted regulatory approval. Mikhail Murashko, the Russian Minister of Health, stated in a later press release that early clinical trials showed no serious side effects and that the vaccine could provide two years of immunity based on similar Gamaleya products. Phase III trials will now begin enrolling two thousand frontline health workers and others at high-risk in Russia and elsewhere. Under normal circumstances, Phase III trials for efficacy and safety in humans would take up to four years and involve tens of thousands of carefully monitored vaccine recipients. Minister Murashko has stated that large-scale va...

CORONAVIRUS: Thousands hospitalised and hundreds died as a result of fake news and disinformation by Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Fake news and general disinformation on Social Media surrounding Covid-19 contributed to 5,800 people being hospitalised and at least 800 unnecessary deaths around the world according to researchers in a study published by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Many of the victims had followed advice resembling credible medical information - such as eating large amounts of garlic or ingesting large quantities of vitamins - as a way of preventing infection, the study's authors say. Others drank substances such as cow urine. Many died from drinking methanol or alcohol-based cleaning products that they believed to be a cure for the virus, not helped by incumbent US President Donald Trump expounding the use of injecting bleach. He said at an official press briefing at the White House that "I see the di...

GEOPOLITICS: The Three Levels of Geopolitics in the Arctic - Analysis By Iain Fraser - Geopolitical Journalist www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Google Indexed at 09:32 on 120820 The Arctic Institiute has published a fascinating piece on the three levels of Arctic Geopolitics. The piece by Andreas Østhagen classifies the three levels of Arctic Geopolitics as: “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” His labelling of these three levels as “good”, “bad”, and “ugly” he says is an unabashed borrowing from Sergio Leone’s epic Spaghetti Western film—can shed light on the distinctiveness of each but also how they interact. Such an approach explains why the idea of impending conflict persists, and why this does not necessarily go against the reality of regional cooperation and stability. In other words, my analysis can help explain why rivalry and collaboration do co-exist in the Arctic. The notion of a conflictual Arctic and great-power politics continues to make the headlines. The newly confirmed U.S. Se...

BEIRUT LATEST: Lebanon's government resigns less than a week after the devastating explosion By Iain Fraser - GEOPoliticalMatters.com Malaga, Spain. Less than a week after the horrific explosion that killed more than 200 people and devastated Beirut itself, Lebanon's government has resigned wholesale amid continuing angry protest. The massive blast was caused by the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at the port for years. In a national TV address, Prime Minister Hassan Diab addressed the nation, announcing his resignation and that of his entire government in the wake of the blast, which he called a "disaster beyond measure." In an impassioned statement, Diab berated Lebanon's ruling political elite for fostering what he called "an apparatus of corruption bigger than the state." He said "We have fought valiantly and with dignity," "Between us and change is big powerful barrier." going on to comparing Tuesda...

TERROR: Huge Blast Rocks Beirut - Over 100 killed and 4000 injured including Britons. By Iain Fraser - Consultant Editor www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com Google Indexed at 08:01 on 05/08/2020 The explosion occurred just after 18:00 (15:00 GMT) yesterday (04/08/2020 after a fire started at the port. The city was shaken by the blast and a mushroom cloud could be seen billowing  over the port area. The huge blast was felt 240km (150 miles) away on Cyprus, in the eastern Mediterranean, with residents reporting an earthquake. Latest reports say that the blast killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others including several Britons. A search and rescue operation is still under way to locate more than 100 people missing still missing. Intelligence commentators in the Lebanese capital immediately pointed the finger towards Israel. Although Israel was quick to deny the claims the operation has all the hallmarks of a Mossad operation and follows close on the heels of the recent se...

BREAKING: Huge Blast Rocks Beirut - Over 100 reported missing. By Iain Fraser - Consultant Editor www.GEOPoliticalMatters.com The explosion occurred just after 18:00 (15:00 GMT) tonight (04/08/2020) after a fire started at the port. The city was shaken by the blast and a mushroom cloud could be seen billowing  over the port area. Many sensualities have been reported. This is an unfolding story, to receive updates to your inbox please Click Here to Login or Click Here to Register Free. Or follow updates as they happen on our Twitter Feed @ GEO_NewsDesk  

Twitter Hack exposes massive cyber security flaw that affects us all. Is your company safe? By Stephen Burke, CEO and founder of Cyber Risk Aware via GEOPoliticalMatters.com Introducing a cyber security aware culture, supported by real time accountability, is the only solution to shield organisations and individuals in a time of cyber attacks and Twitter hacks.   Everyday brings a new security threat or a new report of a massively destructive cyber attack and 2019 was one of the worst years on record for attacks and breaches . Over the course of 2019 there was a massive 54% increase in data breaches - many with dire consequences. What you read in the press is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the fates of global players such as Verizon, Capital One, British Airways and many others, with the implications of many attacks still yet to be seen. Predictably IT companies continue to innovate to provide the best in class infrastructure solutions: And yet the attackers continue...