Central Asia & Caucasus Data

When Russian banks were cut off from SWIFT in 2022, the goal was clear: deliver a fast financial shock. It didn’t quite work that way. Russia kept exporting, oil revenues surged and before long a different narrative began to take hold — that the sanctions had not worked after all. That conclusion is easy to The post Russia survived without SWIFT, but that doesn’t mean it won appeared first on Asia Times.

In a striking role reversal, Russia appears to be preparing to supply its embattled partner Iran with one-way attack drones, just as Iran previously supplied Russia to sustain its fight in Ukraine. The Financial Times (FT) reported that Russia is nearing the completion of phased deliveries of drones to Iran, representing Russia’s provision of lethal The post Russia arms Iran, cementing a drone-powered anti-US axis appeared first on Asia Times.

TOKYO — News of currency troubles in Thailand has a way of raising blood pressure amongst even the most battle-tested Asian investors. The baht’s dubious honor of being Asia’s worst-performing currency amid surging oil prices is making headlines and triggering more than a little PDST. It was Bangkok’s devaluation in July 1997 that set in motion the The post Iran war restores King Dollar’s crown, for now appeared first on Asia Times.

China’s ambassador to ASEAN recently suggested that the current global energy shock triggered by war in the Middle East should be seen not only as a crisis, but as an opportunity to deepen cooperation on the transition to clean energy. That framing may sound diplomatic. In reality, it is strategic — and increasingly hard to The post China’s clean energy offer to Indonesia just got harder to refuse appeared first on Asia Times.