Reporter’s notebook: Kazakhstan trip highlights promise and limits of Central Asia ties

Sulfuric acid is the hidden chemical linking energy, fertiliser, food security, copper, nickel, batteries, semiconductors and water. As sulfur supply tightens, executives must track the industrial connections shaping clean technology, agriculture and global resilience.

The dollar still dominates global finance. But sanctions, frozen reserves, tariffs, gold repatriation, BRICS payment plans and rising geopolitical tension are forcing governments to ask a harder question: how much national security should depend on another country’s financial system?

Natural gas is not only an energy commodity. It is a feedstock for fertiliser, a foundation for food production and a strategic link between energy security, agriculture, industry and climate technology.