Mobile banking services present a unique growth opportunity for mobile operators in emerging markets, and have already made good progress in bringing financial services to the previously unbanked populations of many developing countries. The GSM Association reckons that there are over 60 million people worldwide accessing financial services, and this number is set to keep [Read more...]

The Christmas Day Detroit airliner plot has put Yemen under the terror spotlight after it emerged that the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, lived in Yemen between August and December 2009, and after the Yemen-based Islamist group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attempted attack.
Given the intense media attention on the country [Read more...]

Myanmar (Burma) is a country that deserves more attention.

In case you missed it, the US is currently pursuing a diplomatic outreach to Myanmar’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) – the military junta headed by Senior General Than Shwe. US State Department officials have just returned from what was the highest-ranking American [Read more...]

Pakistan is one of the most geopolitically important countries in the world today, and how it evolves will affect a whole range of strategic issues. These include:

The future of political Islam

The fate of Afghanistan

The spread of nuclear weapons

The economic development of South Asia

The development of energy [Read more...]

Russia’s annual Caucasus military exercises, which began on Monday, carry added significance this year, since Moscow last week suffered a blow to its regional strategy with the near-assassination of the President of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

A bit of background here: Ingushetia is an ethnic republic within Russia, tucked in between Chechnya to its east and North [Read more...]

I note with some surprise that since Risk Watchdog launched last July, I have never dedicated a post to India. Therefore, I see no better time than the beginning of India’s mammoth general elections to address this shortcoming.

Lest anyone forget, India is the largest democracy on Earth, and along with China, one of two emerging [Read more...]