Articles
Articles in major media and academic publications written by New Silk Road Monitor Editor Afshin Molavi.
The World Will Still Need Oil for Decades to Come
Remember $165 oil? There might well be more than a touch of nostalgia in that question for oil industry executives and Middle East oil producers after the dramatic fall in the price of crude following the breakdown in talks between Saudi Arabia, OPEC and Russia this...
Billions Poised to Become Economic Coronavirus Victims
By Afshin Molavi When multilateral organizations produce economic reports, they generally adorn the front cover with a generic and emotionless photo of an urban center, a thriving factory, or smiling children. A recent report by the Paris-based Organization for...
Greece Prime Minister Hails China on Piraeus Port, Wants More US Investment
The recently elected Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was in Washington this week, doing the rounds, and I attended his highly engaging session at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday. He made a compelling case for the "Greece is back" narrative, outlining an...
The World’s Fastest Growing Airports
It should come as no surprise to readers of these pages that the fastest growing airports are in the emerging world along the New Silk Road. In fact, according to Airports Council International, 12 of the 30 fastest growing airports are either in China or India. Here...
The Eurasian Super Continent and Our Collective Future
In one of the most memorable lines from Ernest Hemingway's classic work, The Sun Also Rises, one of the lead characters was asked how he went bankrupt. His response? "It happened gradually, and then suddenly." I often think of that line as I reflect on China's...
Interviews
Afshin Molavi interviews some of the world’s leading thinkers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and writers, in a series known as Tea with emerge85.
The Emirati Social Media Pioneer Accelerates His Arab Art Advocacy
In May 2008, a Dubai art gallery owner turned to Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, a rising Emirati commentator and art collector, with a simple question: “Why are you not on Twitter?” The rest is social media history.
The Writer Bringing Northern Nigeria to the World
When Abubakar Adam Ibrahim was 18 years old, he got into a memorable spat with his older brother, who insisted Ibrahim enter a BBC contest for aspiring playwrights. But the young, hesitant writer refused. “When I said ‘no’ to the contest, he stopped talking to...
Pioneering Journalist Talks End of Karma’ and Future of India
When Somini Sengupta was eight years old in 1975, her parents decided to emigrate from their Calcutta home for an uncertain future in a new world. She remembers an odd detail: Her mother left behind some green dessert custard cups and a stack of saris. “I think...
The Egyptian Industrial Entrepreneur Aiming for the Next Big Thing
When Basil El Baz graduated from Harvard University in 1997, he seemingly had it made. The son of a prominent diplomat in Egypt, he was in prime position to slip into an investment banking job in New York or London, or perhaps go to law school before returning...
The Veteran McKinsey Pioneer Reflects on His Journey from Delhi to Dubai – and Now, East Jerusalem
If the consulting world had a hall of fame, Kito de Boer would occupy a central place. Bringing McKinsey to India in 1992, when the country was on the cusp of a nationwide economic transformation, he helped build a thriving practice that today is one of the...
