Elaine Dezenski

The Ramifications of the UAE Leaving OPEC

Time To Bury OPEC

OPEC is dying. The announcement by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that it will leave the cartel effective May 1 may be the fatal blow. As OPEC’s third-largest producer, the UAE’s exit follows Qatar’s...

China’s beachhead in the Balkans

Serbia is playing a dangerous game with the West. While the European Union and the United States are pursuing a partnership with and EU membership for Serbia, Serbia is cultivating a rapidly...

Evaluating the Economic Damage to Iran From Operation Epic Fury: An Initial Estimate

With the conflict still unfolding, FDD estimates economic damage to Iran at approximately 40 percent of its pre-war GDP — a first accounting that speaks to the breadth and depth of Iran’s losses. Specifically,...

Iran’s economic damage from Operation Epic Fury

CATL’s Mining Push Escalates China’s Critical Minerals Offensive

China’s battery giant is going vertical. CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, announced a $4.4 billion investment to launch a dedicated mining subsidiary focused on securing critical mineral...

Crude new world: Oil markets will never be the same – regardless of how the war in Iran ends

Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is a worthy goal in and of itself. But President Trump’s campaign against the Iranian regime carries far broader implications — many of them...

The Broken Promise of the Panama Papers, Ten Years On

The scandal thrust financial secrecy into the spotlight. Why is dirty money still such a big problem?

The Iran war has given Trump his best hand against China — now he shouldn’t fold

President Donald Trump should say the quiet part out loud: China’s years of economic, technological and diplomatic support for Iran did not merely underwrite the regime’s malign activity. It accelerated...

Forging a New Critical Minerals Reality

Strengthening Transparency, Eligibility, and Jurisdictional Scope in Investment Reviews

China is overplaying its hand on rare earth materials

When President Trump travels to Beijing early next year to finalize a new trade deal, China will deploy one of its favorite pressure tactics: restricting exports of rare earth elements.   Last...

Delaying the Effective Date of the AML/CFT Program and SAR Filing Requirements for Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers

China’s money launderers are bankrolling America’s fentanyl epidemic

Money laundering isn’t new — and neither is China’s role in it. Millennia ago, Chinese merchants developed schemes to “clean” the profits of commercial trade and avoid taxation....

We must loosen China’s chokehold on battery supply chains

A ceasefire in the U.S.-China trade war doesn’t change the fact that Americans are subject to Beijing’s whims when it comes to critical supplies of everything from magnets to minerals. This is not an accident but is the result of decades of Beijing’s deliberate practices to build monopolies, dominate supply chains, stifle competition, and foster resource dependencies. 

How Trump Could Use Tariffs to Attract Investment

The administration already has a blueprint—and now needs to make it work.

Trump wants to go after criminal networks. A new approach to sanctions is needed.

Excerpt During his address to a joint session of Congress, President Trump made a powerful declaration: “Two weeks ago, I officially designated [Tren de Aragua] — along with MS-13 and the ruthless...

To defend Taiwan tomorrow, we must prepare to sanction China today 

Excerpt Taiwan is reportedly considering a $15 billion military package as an overture to President-elect Trump. This comes just as the island nation agreed to spend over $2 billion...

Book Chapter — Throwing Cold Water on the New Cold War

How the World’s Democracies Can Win

Europe’s difficult path on China’s EVs is a lesson for North America

North America and Europe are facing an economic security crisis in the making, as China muscles its emerging electric vehicle monopolies and overcapacity into the Western market ...