US Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Wednesday, January 25, called for the United States to expand its space programme. In particular, he stated that the US would have a permanent base on the moon by the end of his putative second term, ie January 2021. This echoed former president George W. Bush’s goal of… [Read more]

One of the big issues being debated among European leaders lately is whether political power – principally over fiscal policy – should be further centralised in order to save the eurozone from collapse. ‘Eurocrats’ seem to favour centralisation, but many national governments, not to mention their electorates, oppose this. They fear, not unreasonably, that a… [Read more]

While leaders of EU countries were holding a summit last Friday, Business Monitor International (BMI)’s own Politburo Presidium was in session, discussing a different European topic: Russia. Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Moscow, St Petersburg, and other cities against the outcome of the previous weekend’s parliamentary elections, in which the… [Read more]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s confirmation over the weekend that he plans to return to the presidency in March 2012 effectively positions him to rule Russia until 2024 by means of two consecutive six-year terms. This, of course, depends on his health holding out – at 58, he is already at the average Russian male’s… [Read more]

The risks to the global economy are mounting, following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March and the spike in oil prices on the back of the political crises in the Middle East and North Africa. BMI’s core global economic scenario is for steady growth for the remainder of the year and into 2012,… [Read more]

The United Nations has published its latest population forecasts for the world from now to 2100. The accompanying press release is worth reading, and the online database has been updated accordingly. Of note, the UN sees the world population rising to 10.1bn in 2100, with Africa’s population more than tripling to 3.6bn over the next… [Read more]

Russia has arguably emerged as a key beneficiary of the current political crises in the Middle East and North Africa, mainly because events there have undermined the United States’ geopolitical position, sown divisions with NATO, and driven up oil prices. At the same time, the Japanese earthquake will probably increase Japan’s dependence on Russian energy… [Read more]