Mines and Taliban; The Squad in Democratic Primaries; New NATO caretaker; soverign debt

Taliban took over Afghanistan’s mines

“How the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s mines”

• Afghanistan is estimated to have $1tn of materials.

  • Taliban is tapping into the natural resources by announcing more than 200 mining deals (worth billions of $)

• Currently, mines are small-scale, but many.

• “The World Bank said Afghanistan’s domestic revenue increased 22 per cent year-on-year in April and May thanks to the auction of mines and resources such as oil, emeralds and nephrite, a type of jade prized in China.”

• Before the Taliban takeover, the mining was very much limited and ensnared with corruption and conflicts between warlords. Now, “[t]he takeover was “a golden chance to come forward and invest”.” China, Russia, and Iran are the potential customers.

• the negatives

  • sanctions
  • the natural resource revenues may embolden Taliban to pursue even more extreme policies
  • the investment is largely myopic with the government only interested in the short-term revenue maximization, which will “bite back” in the long run.

The Squad loses in the NY primary.

“Democratic ‘Squad’ member loses New York primary on split over Gaza war”

• “Bowman was defeated by George Latimer, a local county executive, in a contest that became a showdown between progressive and moderate Democrats and was marred by allegations of racism and antisemitism.”

  • “But Bowman antagonised many Jewish voters, who account for about 9 per cent of the electorate, with his criticism of Israel’s response to Hamas’s October 7 attack.”

  • Many who didn’t vote for Bowman, however, state that the dissatisfaction is more with his lack of interest in the district than with his stance on Israel.

New NATO leader

“Mark Rutte Moves From Leading Netherlands to Heading NATO”

• “Mark Rutte, the long-serving Dutch prime minister, was formally named the new secretary general of NATO”; a staunch opponent of Putin

• “Long a favorite of Mr. Biden for the post, Mr. Rutte served as the Dutch prime minister four times, for nearly 14 years, building complicated coalitions through debate and compromise. Those skills should serve him well in an alliance that works by consensus, where one country can block the intentions of the rest.”

• “Under Mr. Rutte, the Netherlands has increased military spending to more than the 2 percent of gross domestic product demanded of NATO members, and it has provided F-16 fighter jets, artillery, drones and ammunition to Kyiv while investing more in its own military.”

Sovereign debt restructuring is getting better

“Sovereign Debt Restructuring Process Is Improving Amid Cooperation and Reform”

• The Common Framework “started to deliver.”

  • made possible partly because “because stakeholders have developed more experience working together, including with non-traditional official creditors like China, India, and Saudi Arabia.”

• outside CF, the pace is getting faster too.

• “The IMF, World Bank and the Presidency of the Group of Twenty introduced the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) early last year to help overcome various disagreements on technical issues. Discussions among creditors and debtors have made progress on several key aspects, including comparability of treatment among creditors, defining what debts are included in the restructuring, information sharing, and processes and timelines.”