Economics, Business and Finance

Piracy in Focus: Perspective of a Political Analyst

Peter Chalk (Ph.D. in Political Science, University of British Columbia, Canada) is a senior political analyst at the Rand Corporation, dealing with transnational security threats, evolving trends in national and international terrorism, and international organized crime. “The reason I think that piracy has emerged in the news at the moment is twofold. First, because it’s occurring in a geopolitically strategic area of the world, mainly off the horn of Africa, which has immediate implications for what is going on around the Arabian Peninsula. Second, because the capabilities of the pirates today seem to have expanded considerably from what they were in the past.” -- 01/22 >>>

Piracy in Focus: Perspective of an Industry Professional

Gordan Van Hook is currently with Maersk Line, Limited as their Senior Director for Innovation and Concept Development. Recently retired from the US Navy after 29 years, Captain Van Hook is a third generation naval officer. He also holds an MS in Information systems from the Naval Postgraduate School and an MA in National Security Strategy from the Naval War College. “The industry also has to take measures of its own. First, we don’t transit the area unless we have ships that can make at least 18 knots or have 10 meters of freeboard, because no ship has been taken that can travel at over 15 knots. So if high fast ships go through, they can’t get at them, but if you are low and slow, the pirates feel like they have an opportunity to take it.” -- 01/22 >>>

Rethinking the Future

Clifford Gaddy is a Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution. Dr. Gaddy is an economist specializing in Russia, he is writing books on the political economy of Russian oil and gas and on the country’s long-term growth prospects. His earlier books include Russia’s Virtual Economy and The Siberian Curse. “Putin is not talking about postponing or freezing the big 2020 development plan and so on, he says, 'no, we will continue with this.' This cannot be done, it is unrealistic. Moreover, Putin is saying, 'we will keep the ruble stable,' and he is rejecting the idea of any sort of significant devaluation of the ruble. This is completely unrealistic, the ruble has to be devalued and it will be devalued, the problem is that it may devalue in an uncontrolled way." -- 12/19 >>>

Where is the crisis heading?

Interview with Sebastien Gay, Professor of Economics at University of Chicago: "Like in any economic cycle, the period of recession might last for three to five years. In my opinion, the recession primary started when the prices of houses went down and the first mortgages started to fall. So, I would say, we are at the middle of this crisis toward the end and we still see a lot of turbulence on the stock market; therefore, we are definitely not out of it." -- 11/10 >>>

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