I just finished reading The Colder War from Marin Katusa and it was an amazing read for those interested in actually understanding world news currently and how it (almost always) relies on control of energy production.
I will first summarize what I enjoyed the most of the book and then explain why I am heavily interested in this topic since last year.
I read it within 2 days, which I rarely do. Not because it was short (272 pages) but because it had a lot of information on various topics I was happy to learn more about.
The Colder war, of course, does cover the rise of Putin in Russia and what this implies for the world economy (particularly in the energy sector) which was a great read but I also enjoyed a lot the historical lessons in the book around the topic of energy production in many countries. It thoroughly covers the history of many Middle Eastern countries and the development of many modern energy sources such as coal, oil & natural gas. This book confirms a lot of what most people know on some level (especially when it comes to the Middle East) but underestimate the importance of, which is the HEAVY connection of the energy sector and what we see in the news on world politics.
Most (all?) conflicts in the 20-21th century are not due to humanitarian reasons (or whatever the mainstream news say) but solving energy problems & securing the constant inflow of energy (and income). As you learn in the book, Putin is cornering Russia to be a nation that most world economies will be dependent on in the future for energy, thus making Russia a very strong cornerstone of world politics.
Image from http://whowhatwhy.com/2012/09/24/who-exclusive-gen-wesley-clark-on-oil-war-and-activism/The most I learned back in high school in Canada is that Israel and Arabs hate each other after world war 2, barely any mention of the story behind Iran, Iraq etc. I started learning a little about those from my own research last year when I got interested in investing and where the world is going, and this book summed a lot of it up for me and delivered even more.
It is highly recommended for those who want to learn more about Russia after the collapse of Communism and where the world is going, especially if you have a contrarian investing mind like me.
A little personal back story for those wondering why I am interested about world geopolitics now, after having “blocked” all news sites and TV channels from my life for 5+ years as useless noise – which it mostly still is.
As my savings grew last year after some great online success, I was looking at where to invest my online income. I calculated that for me my #1 risk as a guy in his 20s is losing the value of my savings due to inflation or, worse, hyper inflation. So I put a % of my income in gold/silver after it crashed heavily in 2013 so in the case of inflation, I should have something to hold on into for food/shelter in case I have no income stream at the same time as heavy inflation hits.
Since I covered my savings from total loss, extra income can now be free to be hold in cash for day to day activities or invest in future trends in the hope of generating more capital in the future.
As a man in my 20s I can always work harder or think of a new business ventures to generate money but I DO rely on my savings in between ups and downs. Especially when it comes to making money online which in my field (advertisement, PPC, SEO) can vary a lot and is also dependent on the economic prosperity of the western world.
While I can’t spend all day looking at stocks (or else I might as well become a day trader) I do want to invest in future trends (over many months/years) that the majority can not see so I can buy low and sell high. It is not that hard to find since the mainstream media does not inform the masses appropriately, news are always focused on the present with rash negative emotions, things “happen” without much though of what caused it or future consequences. Who know if I will make the correct calls, but I see more potential buying low on future trends than investing in stocks at their peak while doing like everyone else and putting money in Apple.
You can find the book on amazon here and the book website at http://www.colderwar.com/ which has additional information and links to relevant topics.
Another book you might enjoy…
For those interested in this book, I think you might also enjoy Currency War by James Richard which I really enjoyed last year to understand how “crazy” and especially unprecedented our current western economic policies are from central banks and the possible risk these will have on our quality of life & savings in this decade. I think both of these books go along very well to have a good view of where the world is heading.