Just over a year since widespread political protests and social unrest crippled Bangkok and scared off tourists, Thailand is gearing up for crucial general elections on July 3rd. With only weeks to go, there remains much uncertainty over the elections, the outcome on which could go a long way to determine the country’s economic fortunes over the… [Read more]
Egypt is entering a pivotal time in its modern history, as my colleagues and I explain today in Business Monitor Online. Popular protests against President Hosni Mubarak, inspired by those in Tunisia, are a major risk to his regime. However, even if the protests fail to dislodge Mubarak now, his advanced age (82) would appear… [Read more]
The ousting of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali late on Friday is as good a time as any to discuss the ingredients for a successful popular uprising. Many leaders around the world face protests of some sort, but most survive the turmoil. There were several reasons why Tunisians moved against their president last week:… [Read more]
At first glance, the link between rising wheat prices and the state of telecoms infrastructure is hard to see, to the casual observer. However, Mozambique provides an opportunity to look at these two – usually unrelated – industries. Protests against a hike in bread prices in Mozambique were organised via SMS messaging on mobile phones…. [Read more]
Kyrgyzstan and Thailand generally have very little in common, but this week they have both found themselves gripped by political crises. Kyrgyzstan’s government has been overthrown, but so far the drama in Thailand has been contained. What to make of this? Kyrgyzstan The immediate crisis has been triggered by massive energy price increases and a… [Read more]
I am becoming increasingly concerned about the rising threat of strikes and demonstrations in Emerging Europe. Business Monitor International (BMI) has long raised a number of structural problems in the region – endemic corruption, nepotism and flawed election procedures. However, with unemployment set to rise, the erosion of real wealth and governments’ perceived mismanagement of… [Read more]
