So in recent years I've become a bit of a history fanatic. Weekday meals? 30 minutes of Youtube documentaries for lunch. 1 hour for dinner. Reading list? At least half are history books. Odd few minutes here and there? I'll be exhausting the question library on another history quiz app. We'll come back to this [...]
On this day 50 years ago, one of the momentous events in the 20th century took place. But unlike others frequently told in schools - fall of Berlin wall, Deng Xiaoping opening China, NASA moon landing, the pill, Hiroshima, the Great Depression, Bolshevik revolution, Ferdinand assassination, Wright brothers flight etc - what happened on 15th [...]
I've always been fascinated by the history of money. Not only as it's a key driver of human behaviour and geopolitics. But as major force that shapes the trajectory of human endeavor. Put simply, it's an integral part to understanding how the world works. "If you want to understand how the world works, follow the [...]
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics, Tim Marshall, 2015 (Amazon US;Amazon Australia) Snapshot Explores the geographical dimension in geopolitics, putting key historical events into context. While geopolitics can quickly become complex, there are certainly recurring themes: access to water transport routes, natural resources etc. Familiarity [...]
TL;DR One cannot understand global oil geopolitics without grasping the Middle East. But understanding this region is rather difficult. "It's hot, sandy, and everyone hates each other." Despite the difficulty, one can still attempt to untangle the intricacies of the region by reviewing raw historical events and then drawing your own conclusions. Some observations from [...]
Oil geopolitics isn't a topic many would take natural interest in. Yet, I'm convinced it's one of the most effective routes to understanding how the the world works. Why? Geopolitics quickly becomes complex. The deeper you dive in, the more apparent its interconnectivity and transdisciplinarity becomes. It's easy to get stuck in the Valley of [...]
Commentary on every book I read in the quarter, covering: why I chose to read it, some insights and quotes, and review. Not intended to be a summary. Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker (2017) It's a truism to say sleep is important - along with nutrition, stress management, and exercise. Yet I still found [...]
