#geopolitics

#geopolitics

I remember I was putting together, like, how can I succinctly illustrate the beginnings of a World War Three type situation? And in all the research I was doing, it was like, That's the one big thing, the Strait of Hormuz. If there was a blockade, it's this very sensitive area, this sort of Achilles heel, in the sense of global security and access to oil, and how everything could sort of explode.

People's initial reaction was fear. After all, we've been living in close friendship with our American neighbors here for 80 years. They feel at home here, far from their homeland. The Americans are integrated into our social life, in soccer and music clubs. Many even stay here after they retire.

Apple has depended on Taiwan-based TSMC to build the chips that power iPhones and Macs for over 10 years. CEO Tim Cook stated that chip shortages are constraining growth for products like the Mac mini and iPhone 17 Pro, indicating a need for more flexibility in the supply chain.

The Norwegian government plans to spend 19bn kroner on restarting the Albuskjell, Vest Ekofisk, and Tommeliten Gamma gas fields by the end of 2028, with production continuing until 2048.

The session's biggest spark came from reports suggesting the U.S. is close to a one-page memorandum with Iran to end the war. Gold futures responded with an upward move and silver futures with a 6% jump.

The phones we carry around in our pockets have two million times more memory and are thousands of times faster than the room-sized computers that guided the Apollo mission to the Moon.

The Saudi sovereign wealth fund's exit from LIV Golf, after pouring more than $5 billion into the PGA competitor since 2022, is the first major casualty of the kingdom rationing cash as oil exports sink.

The recent alliance of former enemies in Mali, particularly with the involvement of an al-Qaeda-linked group, signifies a troubling shift in the security landscape, as they now target military sites.

Chris Ong, Seatrium's CEO, sees the Iran conflict sharpening what specialists call the energy trilemma, or the trade-off between energy security, affordable supply, and environmental sustainability. "The situation is now even worse because of the destruction of supply, which is still not fully priced in," Ong says. "People don't understand; they have been swung between different stories every day."

Gas prices have surged more than a dollar a gallon for regular unleaded just since the war began. Wright stated that while the U.S. loses nothing when the Strait is closed, the conflict has caused short-term disruptions in energy flow.