Ken Philips

Iran’s oil story is, in many ways, inseparable from its political evolution—a long arc that begins under Western dominance, breaks abruptly with revolution, and ultimately reorients toward a very different set of partners. For much of the twentieth century, Iran’s vast hydrocarbon resources were deeply embedded in the Western system. Following the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, a consortium of Western oil majors—including what would later become ExxonMobil and Chevron—played a central role in...

Private credit has grown from a niche strategy into a core pillar of global finance. In the United States alone, the market now stands at roughly $1.3 trillion. That number may not sound alarming until you put it in context. Before the Global Financial Crisis, the segment of the mortgage market that ultimately triggered systemic stress—subprime and Alt-A securities—was estimated at around $1.5 to $2 trillion. In other words, private credit today is already in the same order of magnitude as...

When geopolitical tensions rise, oil markets tend to react almost automatically by pushing prices higher. The dominant narrative is straightforward: war threatens supply. Yet this reaction may overlook a powerful counterforce — demand destruction. The world witnessed a dramatic example during the COVID-19 pandemic. As governments and societies shifted into crisis mode, economic activity slowed sharply. Air travel collapsed, commuting declined, tourism disappeared, and discretionary...