Annual Forecast 2015

Forecast
January 12, 2015 | 10:30 GMT Text Size

2014 was the year in which the world was finally shaken out of complacency. Ukraine
triggered Russia's inevitable confrontation with the United States and Europe. Economic
malaise in Europe became impossible to ignore, with anti-establishment groups growing
louder with each passing election. An intensifying anti-corruption drive in China exposed how
far and deep the Chinese leadership is willing to go in trying to manage political resistance
amid a slowing economy.
Stratfor has long emphasized that two of the three pillars of the international system
Europe and China were in structural decline while the United States, buoyed by an energy
boom, would maintain a position of relative hegemony. As Robert Louis Stevenson would
remind us, sooner or later, we will sit down to a banquet of consequences. Indeed, as we begin
2015, the price of Brent crude oil has been slashed by more than half of what it was a year ago
and now hovers around $50 a barrel.
Related Links
2014's Forecasting Report Card
Stratfor's Second Quarter Forecast 2014
Stratfor's Third Quarter Forecast 2014
Stratfor's Fourth Quarter Forecast 2014
While energy traders, politicians and producers alike scramble to find the bottom of the barrel
the nadir of global oil prices the world's ability to cope with or exploit an oversupplied
oil market will shape many of the trends we are looking at for 2015. The standoff between
OPEC swing producers and U.S. oil producers will wind down as low oil prices reach a point
where U.S. production growth will stall. At the same time, OPEC's key producers Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have shown little interest in pulling back on

their own production levels in order to increase oil prices (which would have them effectively
subsidizing U.S. shale oil producers), leaving the oil market oversupplied.
The global energy climate will help bring about a de-escalation in the conflict over Ukraine.
Russia can tolerate more economic pain than most countries, but deep cuts into energy
revenue combined with sanctions are too much for even Russian President Vladimir Putin to
bear as he tries to manage an increasingly shaky Kremlin. Russia maintains energy leverage
over Kiev and can temper a frozen conflict in eastern Ukraine to sway the Europeans toward
easing up on sanctions. The United States will not let up as easily and will continue beefing
up military ties with states along the former Soviet periphery, but Washington will also be
mindful of the consequences of unraveling Russia.
Table of Contents

Introduction

Former Soviet Union

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia

Latin America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Germany will play a role in moderating the conflict with its eastern neighbor, but faces much
bigger problems to its west. The artificial calm that was created by the European Central Bank
and embraced by financial markets for the past two years is due to end with a rude awakening.
Italy, Greece and Spain will bear close watching for triggers to a financial panic, while France
and Germany will remain locked in conflict over how to revive the eurozone. Little will be
done in the end to address the structural ailments fueling the political crisis on the Continent.
With various tensions persisting in Eurasia, the United States will try to reorient itself from
peripheral issues in the Middle East to more central issues on the European mainland. This
will be easier said than done. The fight against the Islamic State will be slow, as Washington
relies on air power and the gradual buildup of local forces divided along multiple ethnic and
sectarian lines. The United States' negotiations with Iran may not culminate in a grand
rapprochement this year, but their working relationship will hold steady as lower oil prices
fortify the Iranian government's resolve to reopen its economy, albeit at an unavoidably slow
pace.
Out of all the oil producers stuck with slashed budgets, Venezuela has the most potential to tip
over the edge this year. The country's finances are already highly strained, and as the
government becomes less able to fund imports, social unrest will be inevitable. The security

architecture around the government designed by former President Hugo Chavez is one of
current President Nicolas Maduro's main vulnerabilities as he balances multiple competing
factions while the government's inherited security patron, Cuba, re-engages with the United
States.
We are now in the midst of the second wave of a generational shift that began in 2008-2009,
with a global financial crisis that exposed Europe and China's weaknesses, a shale revolution
that dramatically increased U.S. energy output and a Russian military invasion in the
Caucasus that reminded the world of Moscow's need to maintain its buffer space. As we look
at what 2015 holds in store, we know the oil markets are oversupplied, Europe and China will
continue to stagnate, and Russia will work under heavy constraints to deny the West a strong
foothold in crucial areas of its periphery while the rest of the world deals with the
repercussions of these trends. The ebb and flow of this tumult is covered in the forecast that
follows.

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Former Soviet Union

Russia's Ongoing Competition with the West
The Ukrainian crisis and the ensuing standoff between Russia and the West was the result of a
collision between two geopolitical imperatives: Russia's imperative to maintain buffer space
in its former Soviet periphery particularly Ukraine to feel secure and project power, and
the United States' imperative to prevent the rise of a hegemon in Eurasia.
In 2015, the tension between Russia and the West will persist but de-escalate. Russia began
the year at a disadvantage; there is no major military move Moscow can make without
triggering a larger, and potentially crippling, response from the West. Moreover, because of
Russia's increasingly vulnerable economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to
consider the state's economic survival, as well as stability within the Kremlin, in any decision
he makes in trying to protect Russian interests in the former Soviet periphery. Russia will thus
avoid making a major military push into Ukraine, opting instead to keep the conflict in eastern
Ukraine frozen with the potential for the separatist territories to resume economic ties and
political contacts with the rest of the country. Russia also will avoid any major military
actions to undermine the pro-Western governments of Moldova and Georgia, but will
continue using opposition groups, protests and its existing military presence in their
breakaway territories to maintain pressure on these countries.
Table of Contents

Introduction

Former Soviet Union

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia

Latin America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

At the same time, the West will likely refrain from taking action that risks pushing Russia a
massive, nuclear-armed country over the edge. The Europeans in particular do not want to
see Russia collapse, given the potential impact to their own economic and security standing.
Barring any major miscalculations on either side, the European Union is unlikely to increase
meaningful sanctions against Russia this year. The current European sanctions in place will
automatically expire throughout the year, and extending them would require approval from all
28 EU member countries. Thus, an easing is more likely than an extension or intensification
of the current sanctions. Russia will follow this timeline carefully and moderate its behavior
accordingly to ensure it has enough European support to neutralize the sanctions, even as
more hardline states, such as Poland and the Baltics, fight to sustain this economic pressure.
On the security front, NATO is unlikely to push into Central and Eastern Europe beyond the
rotational exercises and ballistic missile defense deployments already planned. Meanwhile,
Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia will not be brought into the military alliance, although the
United States could increase bilateral security assistance, including potential weapons sales, to
these countries. The United States also has the option of leveraging strategic weapons
systems, such as long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, in its military posturing, to the
detriment of existing Cold War-era treaties. However, such threats will remain rhetorical, as
Europe will resist the increasing deployment of such weapons systems on the continent.
Russia Struggles Economically and Politically
Sanctions are only part of Russia's economic woes. Low oil prices and the effects that
ongoing tensions with the West are having on Russia's investment climate will make the
Russian economy one of Moscow's greatest challenges in 2015, inflicting both social and
political pressures on the Kremlin. Market hysteria aside, the Russian economy will continue
to decline in 2015, but it will not sink to the depths of the 1998 crisis.
Russia will go into recession officially in 2015 as inflation rises to double digits, foreign
investment remains low and capital flight remains high. With the decline of oil prices, the
Russian ruble will continue to weaken, its value changing chaotically. Additionally, the major
Russian firms including energy, banking and industrial firms will have limited access to
credit and will face mounting debts.

According to the Russian government's current budget, which is based on oil at $80 per
barrel, Russia could face a fiscal crisis unless Moscow makes deep spending cuts and
withdraws a large amount from its cash reserves. Russia does have approximately $400
billion in those reserves as of December 2014, but the debate over where and how much to
spend will only add to friction within the Kremlin. Russia will have to prioritize financial
assistance for many strategic state firms and banks, such as Rosneft, Novatek, VTB Bank and
Sberbank. Social spending will be key for Moscow as it tries to mitigate the social costs of the
recession, such as increasing inflation and higher unemployment, by subsidizing gasoline
prices or capping food prices. The poor economic situation will likely spur demonstrations
across Russia, though the government will be able to manage the unrest.
Russia will increase defense spending moderately this year but will postpone its large
armament programs until after 2015. This will allow Moscow to maintain its current military
presence and projection in the former Soviet periphery, but Russia's long-term overhaul of its
military and defense sector will be put off for the time being.
Amid Russia's economic troubles and its standoff with the West, divisions will grow deeper
among the Kremlin elite over how to address the country's various crises. The declining
economy means that the Kremlin's power circles will have less money to draw from for their
own clans and companies. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin will face increasing
pressure from many oligarchs, whose companies and fortunes are in massive decline.
However, the Kremlin will focus mostly on the elite and on companies in the business of
energy and banking, such as Rosneft, Novatek, Sberbank, and VTB, instead of the oligarchs
and most of the private sector. The increasing competition among the elite will force Putin to
spend more time arbitrating, though this will keep the competing clans focused on each other
instead of the Russian leader, enabling Putin to manage any potential challenges to his rule
this year.
Ukraine's Internal Challenges
Like Russia, Ukraine will face significant economic challenges this year. With a gross
domestic product decline of 7.5 percent in 2014 and an ongoing separatist conflict in eastern
Ukraine, Kiev comes into 2015 under significant economic and financial strain. However,
foreign financial assistance is likely to keep Ukraine afloat this year. The International
Monetary Fund and foreign governments will follow through with their current commitments
and provide Ukraine with additional financial assistance as needed. Such aid will require the
implementation of significant new austerity measures, including cuts in subsidies and social
spending, which will lead to some protests. Ukraine's weak economy and volatile political
situation will allow Russia to exert influence over Ukraine in areas like energy, trade and
security matters, though on the whole Kiev is likely to maintain an economic and political
orientation toward the West.
Ukraine also will encounter greater domestic security challenges as far-right and nationalist
groups seek to pressure the government with protests. Some armed far-right groups that
fought in eastern Ukraine will remain active throughout the country. On the other side of the
spectrum, Russia-backed groups are likely to launch terrorist-style attacks in Ukrainian cities
such as Kharkiv, Odessa and Mariupol, though these attacks will be limited in their scope and
effectiveness.

On the energy front, a deal that Kiev and Moscow reached at the end of 2014 for the
resumption of natural gas imports from Russia will continue into the early months of 2015 in
order to avoid major energy shortages in Ukraine during the winter. However, periodic cutoffs
could occur later in the year as the two sides negotiate over a longer-term agreement
regarding natural gas pricing and deliveries. A large-scale cutoff that affects Europe is
unlikely for 2015.
On foreign policy, Ukraine will take steps to integrate further with the European Union within
the framework of the EU Association Agreement, and Kiev will seek to increase cooperation
with NATO and the individual militaries of NATO states. However, actual EU and NATO
membership will not be considered for Ukraine. A low-level frozen conflict will continue with
pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, but Ukraine will not seek to militarily regain
control of Crimea and the self-declared republics in Donbas.
The Ukraine Crisis Has Regional Reverberations
The effects of the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine will continue to spill
over across the former Soviet periphery.
Amid continuing efforts by Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to get closer to the West, Russia
on Jan. 1 launched the Eurasian Union with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, and
Kyrgyzstan is scheduled to join mid-year. This initiative will increase economic and security
integration between Russia and these countries. The other Eurasian Union member countries
will feel the negative effects of Russia's economic crisis due to their dependence on Russia
and their integration with Russia in areas such as trade, remittances and currency pegs. These
economic weaknesses will make protests and social unrest more likely. Belarus in particular
will seek to build closer economic ties with Europe, but it will also maintain a strong military
and security relationship with Russia.
The Baltic states will increase their efforts to diversify their energy supplies away from
Russia, primarily with regional pipeline connections and Lithuania's liquefied natural gas
import terminal. This greater independence from Russian energy supplies will give them more
room to maneuver politically regarding Moscow. NATO will maintain its commitments to the
Baltics in terms of semi-permanent troop rotations and exercises, but these will not expand
significantly. Pro-Russian demonstrations and activities will worry the Baltic governments,
but they will be more of an irritant than a serious threat to stability.
In the Caucasus, Georgia will see an increase in political instability as the ruling Georgian
Dream party experiences greater internal divisions, though this will not offset the country's
broader EU and NATO integration drive. With Russia more focused on domestic and
economic issues and thus less likely to intervene in skirmishes over Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azerbaijan will try to challenge the status quo of its conflict with Armenia with more military
activity on the front line. Although increased hostilities on the border can be expected, a fullscale military conflict drawing in larger neighbors is unlikely.
Gradually rising tensions have been a common feature in Central Asia for the past few years,
though 2015 could see these tensions spike. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, both of which have
seen significant political and security turmoil in recent years, will hold parliamentary
elections this year. Perhaps more important, Uzbekistan will hold presidential elections in
March 2015, just as the country is in the middle of a shaky succession process. All three

countries will experience greater economic pressures as remittances from migrants in Russia
decline, further contributing to the potential for political and security volatility in the region.
Further adding to Central Asia's security challenges is the risk of greater militancy as a result
of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan and the potential return of militants fighting in the
Syria/Iraq theater.
On the energy front, the cancellation of South Stream will make finding replacement projects
a priority for both Russia and the Europeans as they seek to circumvent the troublesome
Ukrainian transit route. Russia will build closer energy ties with Turkey. The Europeans will
court Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to participate in new projects on the Southern Corridor
route though Turkmenistan, still mindful of Russian interests, is not likely to participate in
any such projects this year.

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Europe
Europe, Ukraine and Russia
The European Union, divided as it is among widely varying interests, will remain largely
reactive to events in Ukraine and to the standoff with Russia overall. NATO will continue its
rotation of troops in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, but barring an unexpected event
(such as the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014) the European Union is
unlikely to force an escalation of tensions with Moscow. It will keep the current sanctions
regime in place during the first half of the year but allow parts of the sanctions package to
expire when they come up for review in mid-2015 if Russia appears more cooperative.
Even as Germany maintains firm demands on Russia regarding the crisis in Ukraine, both
sides will prioritize keeping their communication channels open. As far as Berlin is
concerned, it is Moscow's responsibility to take the first steps to de-escalate the crisis. Russia
is likely to act first, giving Germany the political room to support letting the sanctions expire
in mid-2015. Meanwhile, Berlin will back multilateral forms of financial aid for Kiev while
pushing the Ukrainian government to implement structural reforms.
Table of Contents

Introduction

Former Soviet Union

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia

Latin America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Trends in the Eurozone

In 2015, the currency bloc will have to deal with four major problems: economic stagnation,
high unemployment, low inflation and high debt. There will be intense debates about how to
address these problems, but the diverging interests of member states and the artificial calm
created by the European Central Bank will undermine the European Union's efforts to take
coherent measures to deal with its long list of unfinished business.
The debate between countries pushing for more stimulus in the eurozone (such as France and
Italy) and countries insisting on further economic reforms (led by Germany) will continue.
Paris and Rome will keep pushing for greater EU-wide investment and more investment plans
in Germany. However, Germany's domestic constraints will limit its ability to take action. The
zero-deficit policy is very popular among German voters, and conservative sectors of the
government and the Euroskeptic opposition are pressuring Berlin to avoid making
concessions to countries in the eurozone periphery. As a result, Germany is not likely to apply
any significant stimulus packages at home or at the European level in 2015.
However, Berlin will likely tolerate eurozone countries that are not honoring their debt and
deficit commitments. For example, during the first quarter of the year, France and Italy will
apply modest economic reforms aimed at partial economic liberalization to appease the
European Union. By the end of the first quarter, the bloc will assess those measures and will
decide not to apply sanctions against France and Italy.
This will have two main effects. On one hand, Paris and Rome will slow their economic
reform to avoid an escalation of social unrest and to prevent the political divisions within their
center-left governments from widening. On the other, these governments will become
increasingly ineffective, and social discontent will remain strong. A relaxation of fiscal
consolidation measures also will take place in Spain and Portugal, both of which will hold
general elections in late 2015. Germany and the European Union will not make any real
moves to punish Madrid and Lisbon.
In addition to the "stimulus versus reforms" debate, there will also be a fierce discussion
about the European Central Bank's role in fighting deflation and promoting economic growth.
In 2014, the bank applied a series of controversial measures, including negative interest rates,
cheap loans for banks and asset-purchase programs. In 2015, the institution will have to deal
with the difficult question of whether or not to undergo a large-scale purchase of sovereign
debt, a move commonly known as quantitative easing.

The introduction of quantitative easing in the form of the European Central Bank directly
purchasing sovereign debt from countries in the eurozone periphery will face resistance from
the German government, which believes the measure would prevent such countries from
applying structural reforms. The Bundesbank and other central banks in the eurozone will
oppose the measure as well. As a result, the European Central Bank will delay a decision on
quantitative easing for as long as possible while assessing whether ongoing policies are
working. The European Central Bank will try other measures (for example, corporate bond
purchases) before buying sovereign debt. The European Central Bank could also authorize
alternative forms of debt purchases, such as allowing national central banks to do so
themselves, letting them assume the risk instead of the European Central Bank. The European
Central Bank could also limit triple-A countries' purchases of alternative debt to mitigate
German resistance. Even if quantitative easing is introduced at some point this year, Stratfor
believes it will do little to resolve Europe's structural shortcomings and the growing political
crisis on the continent.
In fact, the eurozone is sleepwalking into a new financial crisis. Soaring sovereign bond
yields a problem that the eurozone's policymakers thought they had consigned to the past
could reawaken the currency bloc in 2015. In December 2014, Standard & Poor's put
Italy's sovereign credit rating just one notch above the speculative grade, mostly because of
the country's political uncertainty and lack of reforms. In Greece and Spain, popular left-wing
parties are campaigning on a promise to renegotiate their countries' sovereign debt. It would
take further downgrades of Italy's credit rating or a serious push by Greece or Spain to
renegotiate their public debt for the European Central Bank's promise of intervention to be
tested and for financial instability to return to the eurozone. Such a scenario would weaken
Berlin's resistance to a new round of unorthodox measures.
Finally, the eurozone is also waiting on the European Court of Justice to rule on the legality of
the European Central Bank's bond-purchasing program. Although they may introduce a few
conditions, the European magistrates are likely to rule that the program is legal, making
quantitative easing harder to challenge and more politically acceptable. In any case,
quantitative easing would probably not be the silver bullet many think it will be. Such a
measure would buy distressed eurozone countries more time, but it would not solve the bloc's
underlying problems.
Euroskepticism on the Rise
Six years into the European economic crisis, nationalist, protest and anti-EU parties have
evolved to a point where they could actually enter governments. Because of this, 2015 will be
a year when mainstream parties make alliances to remain in power that seemed unthinkable
before the crisis began. In some cases, the alliances will allow the mainstream parties to
survive longer; in others, they will not.
Several EU members including the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Poland,
Greece, Denmark and Estonia will hold general elections in 2015. In most of these
elections, parties that oppose different aspects of the European Union will perform strongly.
In the United Kingdom, the elections will lead to a fragmented parliament and difficult
coalition talks. The electoral system (in which the candidate with the highest number of votes,
not necessarily a majority, is elected) will keep the U.K. Independence Party from winning a
substantial number of seats in parliament. The mainstream parties likely will retain power, but

only after long negotiations to form a government, and a second election cannot be ruled out.
The United Kingdom's electoral system will come under harsh criticism, but the reform
process will probably not be completed until after 2015.
Regardless of who wins the elections, London will also campaign to get back prerogatives
from Brussels and strengthen the role of national parliaments. The European Union will agree
to discuss some of the measures proposed by the United Kingdom, but Stratfor does not
expect Brussels to accept any proposals that involve treaty change. Moreover, the United
Kingdom will introduce additional bureaucratic controls for immigrants from other EU
nations.
The situation will be more dramatic in Spain, where the strong performance by the protest
Podemos party will put an end to the country's traditional two-party system. Closer
cooperation between the mainstream center-right and center-left seemed impossible in 2014
but will become likely after the general elections in late 2015. A "grand coalition" in Spain
cannot be ruled out.
In Greece, the general elections will not end the country's political instability quite the
opposite. The elections are likely to result in a fragmented parliament and long coalition talks.
Greece will have a new government eventually, but it will be weak. Regardless of who is in
charge, Athens will ask its international lenders to let it relax its austerity measures. The
European Union will likely reach an agreement with Athens regarding the slowing of
economic reforms, but Brussels will not accept a renegotiation of Greece's debt. While the
political situation in Greece will remain very volatile, Stratfor does not expect Greece to leave
the eurozone in 2015.
Political Frictions and Energy Options in Central and Eastern Europe
Domestic political friction is likely in Romania because the country has a center-right
president and a center-left government. However, this will not affect Bucharest's foreign
policy; Romania will remain interested in its alliance with the European Union and the United
States. The Romanian part of NATO's ballistic missile defense system will be installed in the
country's southwest in 2015. Romania will also try to attract investment in its energy sector to
reduce its dependence on energy imports.
Something similar will happen in Poland, where the two main political forces will compete
before the general elections slated for the final quarter of 2015. However, Warsaw will remain
interested in keeping close ties with the White House, ties that allow it to purchase arms and
receive military protection.
For countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the diversification and security of energy
supplies will be key issues in 2015. The year will be defined by numerous debates about
projects to build liquefied natural gas terminals and interconnectors between Central and
Eastern European countries. Some projects will actually become operational in 2015,
including the Slovakia-Hungary interconnector and Poland's liquefied natural gas terminal.
However, most of the debate will remain at the rhetorical level, especially when it comes to
potential alternatives to the South Stream natural gas pipeline.

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Middle East
The U.S. Attempts to Minimize the Burden of the Middle East
While the United States prioritizes a strategy to hem in Russia, its strategy for the Middle East
will focus on trying to minimize distractions stemming from this region. This mission appears
simple on the surface, but will be complicated in practice.
Russia will use the Middle East to influence its engagement with the United States. In the first
part of the year, Russia is likely to propose negotiations to reach a power-sharing agreement
in Syria to end the civil war. This agreement will lack enforcement and is unlikely to gain
much traction, but Moscow will use the proposal to position itself as a responsible mediator.
Understanding that it will not be able to derail U.S.-Iranian cooperation, Russia will try to
insert itself into the negotiations between Washington and Tehran by positioning itself as
Iran's nuclear fuel supplier, thus making the United States more dependent on Russia to
manage the region's conflicts. Russia will also use its tight energy relationship with Turkey to
try to undermine Southern Gas Corridor energy projects designed to circumvent Russia.
Table of Contents

Introduction

Former Soviet Union

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia

Latin America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Russia's moves in the Middle East will do little to deter Washington from the main thrust of
its strategy for the region: Avoid a large-scale commitment of ground troops to this theater

and try to shift more of the burden to regional players to manage common threats like the
Islamic State. The divergent interests of those regional players, as well as the U.S. preference
to prepare local forces to lead ground offensives against the Islamic State, mean progress in
Iraq and especially in Syria will be slow and uneven.
The Islamic State Under Strain
The Islamic State has risen to challenge al Qaeda as the leader of the global jihadist
movement, but it will remain concentrated in the Iraq/Syria theater of operations. The group
will find itself increasingly constrained by unreliable support networks and attacks on its
logistic and financing networks. Although the Islamic State will retain its ability to carry out
conventional and terrorist attacks in its existing areas of operation, the group will not be able
to mass forces or significantly expand the territory under its control.
Even if other jihadist groups or grassroots jihadists from beyond Iraq and Syria take up the
Islamic State banner, the group's capabilities are not likely to improve significantly. Given the
Islamic State's focus on Iraq and Syria and its general lack of transnational terrorist tradecraft,
a major shift that would lead to an appreciable spike in transnational terrorist attacks is
unlikely. Moreover, jihadists in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, the Caucasus, Somalia and
Africa's Sahel region are likely to remain under considerable military pressure this year.
While assisting local ground forces in the fight against Islamic State, the United States will
rely principally on air power to strike at jihadist targets in the region primarily in Iraq and
Syria but potentially elsewhere.
Baghdad's Web of Negotiations
Mobilizing local forces in Iraq and Syria to dislodge the Islamic State will be a slow and
trying process. In Iraq, attempts to muster a national army to deal with the threat will be
plagued by distrust among both Sunni and Kurds toward Baghdad. The Kurds will want to
exchange security cooperation for energy rights, spurring calls for autonomy in Basra. The
Sunnis, while assembling their own militias, will want to bargain for rights to energy
resources in Kurdish-held disputed territories in exchange for security cooperation. The
actions of less-disciplined Shiite militias operating in Sunni areas will run the risk of
undermining political progress in these negotiations. Baghdad will limit how much it
concedes to any of these groups as it tries to preserve central authority in Iraq while trying to
deal with the more immediate issue of the Islamic State.
As Stratfor anticipated in 2014, Turkey drew a line at underwriting Kurdish independence in
Iraq and has instead chosen to re-engage with Baghdad on an energy understanding with the
Kurdistan Regional Government. Financial strain and the common threat of the Islamic State
have driven the Kurdish authority in Arbil back to the negotiating table with Baghdad, which
will allow increased oil output in the north and more exports through the north in 2015 to add
to Iraq's overall production. However, with a number of core issues unresolved, including the
status of disputed territories, this compromise remains vulnerable to disruption. Turkishbacked projects to develop and transport natural gas by pipeline from northern Iraq to Turkey
will also stress the agreement between Baghdad and Arbil in the absence of a framework that
stipulates which party will have the right to sell the natural gas.
The Islamic State Persists in Syria, Tries to Push into Lebanon

In Syria, President Bashar al Assad's government will focus on re-taking Aleppo and will
make some progress toward this end. However, government forces will be hampered overall
by rebel activity in Idlib and Daraa as well as an ongoing push by the Islamic State to seize
Deir al-Zour in the east. In trying to dilute the military strength of Assad's forces, the Islamic
State will try to recruit jihadists to push against Hezbollah in the Qalamoun area of Syria
bordering Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The potential for a jihadist push into Lebanon will attract
greater military support for Beirut. Hezbollah and its patrons in Iran will use the common
threat to further negotiations with their sectarian rivals over a power-sharing agreement in
Lebanon.
Holding Steady with Iran
Maintaining a relationship with Iran remains critical to U.S. strategy in the Middle East, but a
comprehensive agreement broadcasting a U.S.-Iran diplomatic rapprochement is not likely in
2015. The relationship between Iran and the United states will not make a public leap
forward. Rather, diplomacy will continue publicly while both sides cooperate quietly in areas
where their interests coincide, such as Iraq and Syria, even if Washington and Tehran go to
great lengths to deny such cooperation publicly.
The nuclear issue is only one piece of this broader negotiation. An understanding between
Washington and Tehran will endure this year and Iran will maintain limits on enrichment
activity while the United States gradually eases sanctions, relying principally on executive
power to do so. Lower oil prices will constrain Iran as will the prospect of Iran becoming a
more politically viable energy alternative to Russia. These limits will help underpin this
negotiation. However, the political complexities surrounding this process, along with
technical constraints, mean the Iranian energy sector is unlikely to see a revival this year that
significantly increases the amount of Iranian oil on the market.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's inability to significantly improve economic conditions in
Iran this year will only add to the domestic pressures he faces in sustaining the negotiations
with the United States. Pre-emptively, Rouhani will try to undercut his opponents in the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps through anti-corruption charges and other means that aim
to undermine the corps' position as a central cog of Iran's political economy. The corps will
push back but ultimately will lack the institutional strength needed to significantly destabilize
the Rouhani government and derail the negotiations.
An Alienated Turkey
Though the United States and Turkey share a number of interests, from keeping Russian
ambitions in check to stabilizing the Middle East, their partnership will remain strained in
2015.
Turkey will maintain a defensive military posture along its borders in spite of Ankara's
ambitious calls for the implementation of a no-fly zone in Syria a proposal the United
States will keep its distance from as it remains focused on the fight against Islamic State.
Turkey's backing of Islamist groups modeled after the Muslim Brotherhood, combined with
its military reticence, will alienate Turkey from much of the Arab world, denying Turkey the
broader following it seeks to legitimize its role as a regional leader.

Also, Turkey will keep its distance from the U.S.-led effort to contain Russia, preferring
instead to maintain a careful balance between Russia and the West. For example, Turkey will
proceed with the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, Trans-Adriatic Pipeline and other
Southern Corridor projects that circumvent Russia while strengthening its energy relationship
with Russia. Unable to break its energy dependence on Moscow, Turkey would rather reap the
commercial benefits as a transit state while taking advantage of the tense political climate to
increase trade with Russia as European demand continues to lag.
Turkey will also be preoccupied for much of the year with the lead-up to the June general
election. The election will occur amid slowing economic growth, rising unemployment and a
growing chorus of criticism against the ruling Justice and Development Party's foreign policy.
The opposition will remain too fragmented to deny the ruling party a victory, but the Justice
and Development Party's popularity in the polls will erode, making a two-thirds majority in
parliament unlikely for the party. However, this will not prevent Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan from recentralizing power under his presidency. Erdogan will face charges
for violating the constitution, but the allegations will not be backed by enough institutional
heft to paralyze the government or prevent Erdogan from managing the country.
The Justice and Development Party will vie for the Kurdish vote through the ongoing peace
process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and Kurdish factions in Turkey will in turn use this
election year to push forward their demands by way of street demonstrations and occasional
attacks. There may be rhetorical claims of progress at certain points, but this negotiation will
remain hampered by a number of constraints. With active battlefields on Turkey's borders,
Ankara is not going to succeed in disarming the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and the Justice and
Development Party does not have enough political strength to unilaterally approve sensitive
components of a peace deal.
Gulf States Step Up
With Turkey weighed down, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, led by Saudi Arabia,
will attempt to fill a void in the region, reflecting a rare and growing assertiveness as the bloc
works to secure Sunni Arab interests that it believes it can no longer rely solely on the United
States to defend. The GCC began 2015 in a tenuous truce among member states as they pool
their political and economic resources to combat the Islamic State through air power and
support of local ground forces while trying to manage Iranian ambitions in the region.
This will remain a fragile working relationship as divisions persist over working with political
Islamists and over member countries' varying levels of engagement with Iran. Bahrain and the
United Arab Emirates will adhere closely to Saudi policy while Kuwait and Oman pursue a
more cautious line. Qatar will cooperate selectively with this group to avoid isolation but will
use its re-engagement to push other GCC members to integrate, rather than eliminate, Dohabacked political Islamists in places such as Egypt, Libya and Syria.
With ample currency reserves, GCC coordination on energy will continue through 2015. Gulf
producers will continue resisting production cuts and trying to defend their market share from
the expansion of unconventional hydrocarbon production technology beyond North America.
Yemen Remains Restive

Yemeni President Abd Rabboh Mansour Hadi's embattled regime will balance ministerial
positions and other key posts among the factions jockeying for power as one way of staving
off civil war. The al-Houthi sectarian group will continue to coordinate loosely with elements
of Yemen's armed forces and some local tribes to push back against al Qaeda in provinces
under al-Houthi influence. Though the al-Houthis made a large show of strength in 2014, they
are not likely to attempt to seize power in Sanaa and rule directly. Instead, the al-Houthis will
use their enhanced influence and military prowess to bargain with the government over
political and economic rights.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will remain active in Yemen, staging attacks against the
state military and intelligence apparatus, opposing tribes and the al-Houthis. However,
battling all of these groups will limit the al Qaeda franchise's ability to significantly expand
control beyond its traditional territory in the east and parts of the south and will curtail its
ability to stage large-scale and operationally successful attacks in the capital. In southern
Yemen, the secessionist movement, emboldened by the al-Houthi expansion and a weak
central government, will continue to stage protests and hold strikes in efforts to extract
concessions from Sanaa. The southern secessionists, unable to achieve their goal of a
federalist Yemen divided between the north and south in negotiations over the constitution,
could resort to violence.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will keep a watchful eye on Yemen and balance among its
neighbor's factions, including local jihadists, with the primary goal of preventing a spillover
of violence northward. The Saudis will retain the option to intervene through air strikes
should the need arise.
An Israeli-Palestinian Impasse
Israel will undergo a political transition this year that will pull the government further to the
right. Israel's greater intractability on policies toward the Palestinian territories will strain
relations with Washington and further enflame tensions in the West Bank and Israel proper as
militants resort to more resourceful tactics against Israeli targets and as Fatah's influence
continues weakening in the West Bank. Israel will maintain a pre-emptive military posture
and strike with impunity against targets in neighboring states when the need and opportunity
arises.
Egypt's Government Faces Opposition, Jihadists
The military-backed government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will try to consolidate its
power this year. A key component of this process will be the March parliamentary elections. A
fragmented Islamist and secularist landscape, along with skillful electoral engineering, will
allow al-Sisi to realize a divided and thus pliable legislature. Disagreements over how much
political space to cede to Islamists who do not oppose the government, such as the Salafist alNour Party, could limit the extent of the government's success. The government will still be
dealing with protests from the Muslim Brotherhood, though those protests will remain largely
contained. At the same time, Cairo will expend a great deal of energy trying to combat jihadist
groups such as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis and Ajnad Misr both in Sinai and on the mainland.
Egyptian security forces will continue focusing on the Sinai and Nile Delta regions as they
seek to contain domestic insurgent activity, though the country's long desert border with an
increasingly chaotic Libya will also warrant Cairo's attention. Cairo will work with its Gulf

backers and the recognized Libyan government in Tobruk to limit the threats emanating from
eastern Libya. However, Egypt's involvement will fall short of direct military intervention:
Cairo's participation in the Libyan conflict in 2015 likely will be limited to logistical support,
weapons and ammunition, and coordination in air strikes.
Libya's Divisions Persist
Fragmentation will define Libya over the next year, with regional governments and the
international community pursuing various and often competing strategies. The country has
missed self-imposed deadlines for drafting a constitution and holding elections for a
permanent government, and now Libya's transition has ground to a halt as competing factions
of revolutionaries, Gadhafi-era figures and militias from various ideological and sectarian
backgrounds vie for influence. Violence and insecurity will prevent Libya from reaching full
oil production capacity, and strikes, protests and attacks will continue to cause swings and
dips in overall output over the course of the year. However, the strategic value of Libyan oil
supplies to international markets will diminish, especially as Gulf producers maintain
production levels and output from other OPEC members Iraq and Nigeria expands or
stabilizes.
The United States and its coalition partners will watch Libya closely for significant jihadist
activity. So long as groups affiliated with al Qaeda or the Islamic State remain isolated within
small pockets of Libya and do not begin to organize attacks against neighboring Algeria,
Egypt or the European Union, there will be less pressure for outside forces to strike
proactively against Libyan militants a move that could further destabilize the country.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt likely will limit themselves to logistical
support and air strikes in their ongoing support for forces allied to the internationally
recognized national government in Tobruk.
There will be no clear or easy victories for the competing governments either in Tripoli or
Tobruk; various parties are likely to express support for negotiations and enter talks, but
neither lasting cease-fires nor a stable transition is expected in 2015. Any constitution written
under the aegis of the government in Tobruk will not have national support, and if ratified it
likely will prove temporary, extending Libya's political instability beyond 2015.
Algeria Seeks Reform and Manages Succession
Algeria's constitutional reforms will likely be announced this year. Of particular importance
are the reforms pertaining to the structure of the government as a presidential or prime
ministerial system, economic shifts including the further liberalization of the hydrocarbon
sector and the creation of a more civilian-led state after decades of military dominance.
The transition from ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to his successor is not likely to
happen this year, barring any unexpected health complications, and the current political
machinery behind Bouteflika probably will remain largely in place to help manage the
transition process.
Beyond the internal workings of the political elite, Algiers will work to improve ties with
France and the European Union to help bolster the government and attract much-needed
foreign investment into the non-energy sectors of Algeria's economy, especially mining, steel
and automobile manufacturing. Securing against regional militancy will remain Algeria's top
security priority, especially regarding neighboring northern Mali, Tunisia and Libya. Tunisia

will work to form a new government in early 2015, giving Algiers ample opportunity to
entrench security and political cooperation with Tunis further. Algiers also will work to
persuade western Libya's myriad tribal, militia and local political groups to participate in
internationally backed negotiations between the feuding Libyan governments in Tripoli and
Tobruk.

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East Asia
China Looks to Tame an Economic Slowdown
China enters 2015 amid a deepening economic slowdown. Steady declines in home prices,
home sales and real estate-related investment, combined with the impact of still-weak external
demand and rising input costs for Chinese exports, all but ensure that China's economic
growth in 2015 will fall to its lowest level since 1990. Stable growth in services industries,
buttressed by rising household consumption, will mitigate some of the negative social and
political effects of slowing industrial activity. However, these components of China's
economy are not yet strong enough to offset the inexorable winding down of China's
decadeslong export and investment boom. The core questions for China in 2015 do not
concern whether or for how long the country's economic slowdown will continue declining
growth will remain the norm this year. Rather, the questions are how this slowdown will play
out socially and economically across China's many diverse regions and whether the country's
political and administrative structures can evolve to meet its rapidly changing needs.
Slowing economic growth in 2015 will bring to the forefront deep-set regional economic
imbalances not simply between the coast and the interior, but between different parts
within coastal and inland China. Some provinces will feel the pain of declining housing and
infrastructure construction disproportionately. Northern China's traditional coal, steel and
heavy industrial hubs like Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, where reliance on
the health of nationwide real estate markets is highest, will be hardest hit. Naturally, these
provinces will be the locus for local government and corporate debt concerns in 2015. As
average home prices fall further, the likelihood of localized debt, economic and employment
crises in these regions rises substantially.
Table of Contents

Introduction

Former Soviet Union

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia

Latin America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

At the same time, China's internal regional economic and financial fragmentation will limit
these economic crises to a few provinces, providing a subtle but powerful buffer against
nationwide financial contagion. This is the same fragmentation that Beijing seeks to overcome
in the long run. Thus, even as the resource- and heavy industry-based northern Chinese
economies grind to a halt this year, the country's more prosperous and heavily urbanized
coastal and Yangtze River regions will see more stable growth bolstered by stronger services
industries, more robust internal consumption bases and rising investment into higher valueadded manufacturing.
The Chinese government will not seek to reverse the country's economic slowdown this year.
Instead, it will rely on a combination of tools to ensure that the slowdown remains measured.
First and foremost, it will use centrally allocated infrastructure investment, direct capital
injections and targeted relaxation of local government housing and spending controls to
support strategically significant industries and regions or to soften the impact of crises in
others. Additionally, it will act as needed to ensure that the core state-owned banks and their
provincial branches have ample liquidity to metabolize rising non-performing loan ratios and
maintain a steady flow of credit to favored businesses. Beyond these measures, however, the
Chinese government will let the country's economic slowdown do what central authorities
have long struggled, and failed, to accomplish: push forward industrial consolidation, weed
out unprofitable and wasteful investment, and curb endemic housing and basic materials
oversupply. Ultimately, this process could pave the way for a more competitive and
productive Chinese economy. However, during 2015, China will feel much of the pain and
few of the benefits of industrial consolidation, all while maintaining just enough support to
the economy to prevent that pain from becoming critical.
Beijing will take advantage of the housing and construction slowdown to implement a number
of long-awaited economic and social reforms in 2015. First, it will expand fiscal reform
measures, such as a municipal bond pilot program and value-based resource taxes, in an effort
to reduce local government reliance on land sales for revenue, thus removing a key structural
driver of China's post-1990s housing and infrastructure boom. In conjunction with fiscal
reforms, the expansion of property taxes to more regions and the creation of a national
property registration system, both set to take effect in the first half of the year, will undermine
real estate speculation and help bring prices further in line with real average income levels,
especially in the small- and medium-sized cities Beijing has targeted for future urbanization.
China also will establish a national deposit insurance program, widely seen as a key step
toward building a more mature and open financial system. Moreover, Beijing will adjust its
household registration, or hukou, system to better manage shifting labor flows as some parts

of the economy slow faster than others. Finally, the year will bring tangible progress on
efforts to make the state-owned sector more internally competitive and to open key emerging
industries notably, shale gas exploration to greater private and foreign participation.
Implementing these and other reforms will not be easy. The central government's powerful
security and Internet censorship apparatuses will keep visible signs of outright opposition to a
minimum. Yet at the local level and within state-owned enterprises and ministries, resistance
to measures that threaten employment, social stability and vested interests will run high. The
deepening economic slowdown and rising urgency of reform will fuel continued efforts by
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his closest allies to consolidate their influence over
Communist Party, government and military apparatuses and to bolster the central leadership's
public image. In 2015, as in the past two years, the anti-corruption campaign will be the
central vehicle for doing both. As before, anti-corruption drives in 2015 will target a
combination of high-level officials across the military and strategic industries and regions as
well as local-level officials and middle-level functionaries, with perhaps a growing emphasis
on combating local corruption through policies like the national property registry. In line with
this, 2015 will likely bring several waves of large-scale arrests and demotions, along with
rising capital flight as officials accused of corruption seek to move assets overseas.
China's Maneuvers in its Periphery
Economic, social and political stress at home will not halt China's push to expand its
diplomatic and security presence in the countries with which it shares land borders. China also
will work to expand its overland transport, trade and energy connections with its land
neighbors. In particular, Beijing will focus in 2015 on bolstering security and investment ties
with Central Asian countries and Afghanistan and Pakistan as it seeks to stifle unrest in
Xinjiang and curb its rising dependence on overseas trade in energy, resources and goods.
Likewise, Beijing will continue cementing infrastructural ties to mainland Southeast Asia,
with a focus on expanding rail and road transport between southwest China, the Greater
Mekong Subregion and Myanmar. Last but not least, China's leading energy firms will deepen
cooperation with their Russian counterparts in 2015 as Beijing looks to diversify its energy
supply routes and hedge against Japanese-Russian energy cooperation.
This year will not be quiet by any means in the East and South China seas, especially with
several Chinese construction projects on islets and atolls in island chains such as the Spratleys
scheduled for completion. Likewise, as Stratfor has noted before, the steady proliferation of
naval and commercial maritime vessels in both seas raises the likelihood of accidental
collisions or confrontations. However, Beijing will also work to mitigate strong reactions
from its maritime neighbors. Although China is seen as an assertive, and by some accounts
aggressive, power in the South China Sea, it also carefully weighs its actions to avoid the
strongest countermeasures. Beijing will make its maritime security elements essentially its
coast guard more active than its navy in order to force China's neighbors to focus their
procurement dollars on coast guard rather than naval vessels. It also will continue to hold out
a potential code of conduct to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a way to keep the
group divided and reticent of stronger military ties with outside partners, as they see some
opportunity to constrain Chinese actions without being caught between Beijing and
Washington and Tokyo.
Japan's Abe Focuses on Revival

National snap elections in December 2014 gave Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his
hopes of precipitating a Japanese economic, diplomatic and military revival a second wind. In
2015, Abe will try to use his strong parliamentary position to push through the politically
sensitive structural economic and social reforms necessary to transform the temporary gains
of monetary easing and fiscal stimulus the first two "arrows" of his economic strategy,
known colloquially as Abenomics into sustainable, long-term economic growth.
At the top of Abe's agenda this year will be reforms to the worker dispatch law to make it
easier for businesses to hire and fire employees, and measures to increase immigration and
expand female workforce participation. Efforts to open domestic agriculture markets to
foreign competition will help pave the way for Japan's accession to the Trans-Pacific
Partnership in 2015. At the same time, Abe will continue pushing Japanese conglomerates to
raise wages, offsetting the costs to businesses by further cutting corporate tax rates. In 2015,
these measures will compound continued monetary expansion and steady fiscal stimulus to
stem the tide of recession from 2014. However, unless and until structural reforms are firmly
in place and have the desired effect of raising worker productivity and substantially
expanding the workforce any gains likely will be temporary, especially as prolonged low
oil prices dampen the effects of the Bank of Japan's monetary stimulus efforts.
Abe's economic maneuvers will meet with stiff resistance from powerful industrial lobbies
and ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and elements within the Bank of Japan
concerned about the mounting costs of servicing Japan's staggering sovereign debt and
covering other social expenditures. During 2015, resistance within and beyond the
government is not likely to reverse Abenomics, but will constrain any future move by the
prime minister to expand bond purchases and fiscal stimulus.
Economics is only one component of Abe's national revival strategy. Equally important are
military normalization and diplomatic engagement, especially in Southeast Asia. In 2015, Abe
will make as much, if not more, lasting headway on these fronts as on the economy, with
Japanese investment and trade ties with ASEAN set to grow and with Abe set to push harder
for a formal revision of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which would allow the country
to have a regular military instead of just self-defense forces. However, in 2015 these matters
will take a backseat to the debate over Abenomics.
In the area of foreign policy, some progress could occur in Japan's relations with Russia.
Tokyo and Moscow are simultaneously facing constraints and compulsions that make it more
vital than before to move beyond their lingering territorial disputes and enhance their energy
and resource investments and trade, and both countries' leaders see a brief period where action
can be taken to solidify a deal. Although far from guaranteed, a diplomatic agreement on the
disposition of the Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, is likely in the first
half of the year, paving the way for both the formalized end to any lingering uncertainties
from World War II and a shift in Japanese investments in the Russian Far East. Overall,
Russia can be expected to be more active in Japan and China and both Koreas in 2015 and in
expanding its economic relations in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam.
Southeast Asia's Economic Ambitions
This will be something of a watershed year for Southeast Asia. Plans to integrate the region
into a single market for investment, trade and skilled labor by Dec. 31 under the rubric of
an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) "Economic Community" will by no

means be realized fully. Stratfor nonetheless expects significant discussion and concrete steps
to be taken toward reducing the regulatory hurdles and bridging the political and economic
divides that have long undermined ASEAN unity. As a result, Southeast Asia is likely to
remain a favorite destination for overseas investment in 2015, especially from Northeast
Asian investors like China, Japan and South Korea.
Regionwide integration and investment trends will be amplified and in some cases
constrained by internal developments in individual ASEAN member states. Indonesia faces
an ongoing struggle to recentralize political and regulatory powers and create a more stable
and transparent environment for investors. Thailand is attempting to maintain unity and
cohesion in the face of still-simmering regional divisions and a looming royal succession. In
Myanmar, the government is making efforts to reach some form of accord with ethnic rebel
groups before general elections late 2015. On all fronts, Stratfor expects progress to be halting
and limited, constrained as each country's leaders are by other forces.

Click to Enlarge

Latin America
Venezuela's Tumultuous Year Ahead
All the elements are in place to make 2015 a year of protests and difficult political decisions
that will challenge the stability of the Venezuelan government. The downturn in global oil
prices will strain Venezuela's public finances, which require oil prices to be much higher to
satisfy the country's extensive social spending a key element in guaranteeing voters'
support for the government. Venezuela will struggle to fund imports at levels sufficient to
meet public demand, and prices of food and goods will continue rising throughout the year.
These shortages and inflation will lead to rising discontent among the Venezuelan public,
which could spur another wave of protests. As the economic crisis mounts during the year,
factions within the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela will have more incentive to
undermine President Nicolas Maduro's rule. With rising discontent from potential voters and
impending legislative elections in December, these factions could move to erode Maduro's
power or even seek his resignation.
The stress on Venezuelan government finances will force Caracas to make crucial economic
decisions. The government will try to obtain foreign currency wherever possible, but social
spending cuts remain very likely. The degree of unrest on the streets will influence the scope
of the government's cost-cutting plans. If widespread protests persist, Caracas will likely
prioritize funding for domestic needs over debt payments to foreign bondholders or private
firms. Venezuela's deepening economic recession likely will lead the government to continue
reducing oil and refined product shipments to nations in the Petrocaribe energy alliance and to
Cuba in an effort to maximize the country's foreign currency availability.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Former Soviet Union

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia

Latin America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Venezuelan government will also face a key political challenge in the December
elections. The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela will go into these elections without a
strong and charismatic leader at its helm and in a severely depressed economic environment.
If the ruling party suffers an electoral setback, such as the loss of the legislature, rifts within
the party will widen, and political rivals could begin efforts to challenge Maduro.
Driven by the potential threat posed by Cuba's re-engagement with the United States and the
immediate threat from its ongoing domestic economic crisis, Venezuela will pursue a political
rapprochement with the United States. Although Caracas will be looking for economic or
political lifelines, Washington alone will not be able save the Maduro regime. The success of
Venezuela's overtures to the United States will largely depend on Washington's desire to
engage Venezuela.
Cuba Seeks to Reconnect with the U.S.
With Venezuela spiraling downward, the Cuban government will compensate for the
destabilization of its ally by re-engaging with the United States. Cuba and the United States
will continue bilateral meetings and negotiations toward re-establishing full political and
economic relations. Discussions on the resumption of diplomatic contacts, travel and trade
will continue throughout the year, and agreements on individual issues within the negotiations
are likely. However, a full rapprochement is not plausible this year, because numerous
political issues remain unsettled, including the nature of a Cuban political transition away
from the administration of Raul Castro and toward a government acceptable to the United
States. Consequently, the United States' economic embargo on Cuba is unlikely to be lifted in
2015.
Colombia Could Reach a Deal with FARC
The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the
FARC, will enter the final phase of negotiations, in which issues critical to negotiating a
successful peace agreement will be discussed. A peace deal between the two is plausible in

2015. The Colombian government is likely to yield on key issues, such as the dismissal of
outstanding criminal cases against specific FARC commanders, and will begin crafting the
transitional justice mechanisms for guaranteeing the demobilization of the militant group. The
government has tentatively set an October deadline for a national referendum for voters to
approve an eventual peace deal, but this is a soft deadline that could be moved if the two sides
fail to reach an agreement on time.
The Colombian government will also attempt to bring the smaller National Liberation Army,
or ELN, into negotiations. If the government makes notable progress in talks with FARC
throughout the year, it raises the likelihood of the smaller group joining the negotiations.
Argentina Continues Its Attempts to Escape Default
Argentina will hold presidential elections in October 2015. The election could result in a more
free market-oriented, politically moderate candidate taking office. The vote is not likely to
strongly affect Argentina's national economy or regulatory framework this year, since the
winner will not take office until December.
Argentina will begin negotiations with holdout creditors with the aim of reaching an eventual
deal with that will allow Buenos Aires to exit its state of selective default on foreign debt
payments. The seriousness with which the Argentine government pursues a final deal this year
will depend on the state of its public finances throughout the year. A rise of cash inflows from
agricultural exports and reduced spending on energy imports could give Buenos Aires the
financial leeway to pursue a lengthy negotiation with the holdouts rather than hurriedly
negotiating an agreement in the coming year.
Mexico Focuses on Energy and Security
With energy reforms legally locked in place, Mexico will focus on laying the foundation for
an eventual rise in hydrocarbons production. The government will hold several rounds of
energy auctions, auctioning off the first fields in the second half of the year.
Mexico City will continue working to establish or strengthen the rule of law in several regions
of the country. Many of the principal security concerns in 2014, such as the proliferation of
self-defense militias, the expansion of fuel theft, social unrest in the southwest and high levels
of criminal violence, have continued into 2015. As a result of these continuing challenges,
President Enrique Pena Nieto will attempt to overhaul his existing national security strategy in
2015 by pushing for constitutional reforms regarding public security that could better enable
the federal government to strengthen, or bypass, weak local and state institutions that can
impede the federal security strategy.
Tamaulipas state and Mexico's southwest region, particularly Michoacan and Guerrero states,
will continue to draw the focus of the national security strategy. The weak to nonexistent rule
of law in many areas of the southwest which has fostered particularly high levels of
criminal violence, the proliferation of civilian militias, and current unrest triggered by the
abduction of student teachers will continue to challenge Mexico City's efforts to contain
the crime and unrest. However, if the government fails to contain the situation, it risks another
expansion of militias, the emergence of anti-government guerrillas, and prolonged or
expanded unrest in Mexico's southwest region in 2015. Continued protests in the southwest

could also continue driving protests in Mexico City and elsewhere in the country during the
year as participants seek to influence the country's national elections, scheduled for July.
Brazil Copes with a Sluggish Economy
The slow economic growth that has characterized the past two years for Brazil will continue
into 2015. Uneven trade with economically stagnant Argentina will continue to hamper the
steady growth of Brazilian manufacturing exports, which will spur Brasilia to seek increased
exports to other South American and international markets. Brazil's slow growth will lead to
government spending cuts this year equivalent to about 1.2 percent of the country's gross
domestic product. Such cuts are unlikely to affect the popularity of the ruling Workers' Party,
as the cuts will avoid targeting major social spending programs that have underpinned its
popularity.
Ecuador's Correa Prepares to Seek Re-Election
In 2015, the Ecuadorian government will implement the final legislative steps to allow
President Rafael Correa to run for a fourth presidential term in 2017. Ecuador's fragmented
opposition will most likely resort to legal measures and street protests to prevent the decision.
However, Correa's high popularity among voters and the ruling party's overwhelming control
of the legislature will limit the opposition's ability to prevent Correa from standing for a third
term.

Click to Enlarge

South Asia
India's Modi Works Toward Reform
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain fundamentally constrained in his attempts
to transform his ambitious reform plans for India into reality. In 2015, Modi will grapple with
challenges familiar to any Indian leader: securing a stable environment for foreign investment,
reining in rampant corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies and asserting the central
government's authority over independent-minded states. Modi will not reverse India's
geopolitical realities, but he will continue the slow process of consolidating national authority
and garnering support through populist measures before attempting broader structural
reforms. Modi will struggle to maintain the support of India's middle-class voters and the
business elite as he fights to rein in a large and diverse parliamentary majority that at times
will seem more committed to pursuing a Hindu nationalist ideology than Modi's more
pragmatic economic reforms.

Overall, economic growth in India will improve this year, driven primarily by higher investor
confidence, lower energy prices and a strengthening dollar that will help exports. But overall
gross domestic product growth is unlikely to top 5-6 percent because of structural issues
regarding inflation, currency fluctuations and impediments caused by infrastructure
deficiencies. The Modi government will continue efforts to divest shares in state-owned
enterprises, but labor unions and bureaucrats are likely to stymie these plans. Large-scale
strikes would affect coal and iron ore output while adversely effecting the steel, power and
manufacturing sectors.
Table of Contents

Introduction

Former Soviet Union

Europe

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia

Latin America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

India will increase government spending to upgrade its aging military equipment and improve
domestic security. It will renew the push to allocate resources to fight Naxal rebels and
reinforce borders threatened by Islamist militancy. Attempts to get local governments to
cooperate (especially in key Naxal-afflicted states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and
Odisha) will suffer as Modi continues struggling to secure control over his own party while
communal pressures exacerbated by right-wing Hindu nationalist policies will risk social
unrest in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Modi will struggle to create an investment climate that meets the expectations and promises
made to a long list of states that sent officials to visit India in 2014. However, he will gain the
most traction in building India's business relations with China, Bangladesh and the ASEAN
countries and in ongoing efforts to upgrade ties with the United States. Meanwhile, India's
traditionally positive relationships with Japan and Australia will face some tension as Tokyo
and Canberra become frustrated with the slower-than-expected pace of reforms that is
delaying planned investment projects. The resolution of a longstanding border dispute with
Bangladesh will likely happen in 2015, building on steadily improving relations between New
Delhi and the ruling Awami League in Dhaka.
Tensions with Pakistan will remain a concern as border violence continues into the new year.
New Delhi has an imperative to avoid escalating military tensions with Islamabad, especially
as the latter continues its anti-militancy campaign. However, New Delhi's political leadership
remains caught between domestic crises and increasing hardline Hindu politicking, making it

difficult for the Modi administration to de-escalate the situation without a clear victory.
Similarly, Pakistan's military will need to avoid capitulating to India. Ongoing tensions will
leave open the possibility of a miscalculation, which could lead to an escalation in fighting.
Bangladesh Focuses on Drawing Investment
Dhaka will continue to work with the United States and the European Union to lift trade
barriers and bolster investment hurt by concerns over the 2014 elections. As the Awami
League works to consolidate domestic power, it will continue targeting right-wing Islamists
while keeping the option to negotiate with a weakened Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Bangladesh will work primarily with China, Japan and India to try to expand and diversify
investment in manufacturing. Reforms to energy regulations (especially to encourage more
offshore exploration and domestic production), an expansion of special economic zones and
other efforts to move the country up the manufacturing value chain are likely in 2015.
Protests, unrest and violence have accompanied political change in Bangladesh, and 2015 will
be no exception. The ruling Awami League will be able to largely contain the economic and
social effects of protests and actions by the political opposition (including the potential for
internal dissent over negotiations with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party) without serious
risking the government's stability.
Social Unrest Expected in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka begins the year with the ouster of strongman former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
His successor, Maithripala Sirisena, vows to embark on an ambitious political and economic
restructuring of the island, including courting Indian and Western support and balancing
Chinese investment.
Social unrest and protests will are likely in weeks and months following the election, but the
core of support behind the Rajapaksa administration the economic elite, mainstream
Buddhist religious and social groups, and the majority of the island's ethnic Sinhalese
population still opposes the rising political clout of the island's ethnic and religious
minorities. Sirisena will have to expand his base of mainstream Sinhalese supporters,
including the military, in order to push through a new constitution and move away from Sri
Lanka's parliamentary system. Sirisena and his supporters have vowed to dissolve parliament
and write a new constitution eliminating the role of president, but the new president leads an
unruly coalition of competing ethnic, political and religious minorities that will prove difficult
to organize into a stable coalition. Tamils and Sinhalese groups from the island's central
regions are likely to push for a federal style government under the new constitution, creating
rifts between hardline backers of the Rajapaksa administration and Sirisena and the minority
groups who helped vote the new president into office.
Clashes between hardline Buddhist elements and Muslims and Hindus could increase,
creating the possibility for retaliatory or insurgent attacks. The military will continue its
presence in northern Sri Lanka, and while a return to the levels of fighting that took place on
the island prior to the 2009 cease-fire are unlikely, Sri Lanka faces an elevated risk of social
and political unrest in the year to come.
Afghanistan and Pakistan's Post-NATO Cooperation

The coalition government comprised of the factions of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
Ahmadzai and CEO Abdullah Abdullah will likely endure this year, but it will come under
intense strain, especially from Ahmadzai's decision to negotiate with the Taliban and work
with Pakistan. In anticipation of a drawdown of NATO forces and the resulting vacuum that
would allow Pakistani Taliban rebels to operate east of the Durand Line, Islamabad and Kabul
will be compelled to cooperate on military matters and negotiate with the Afghan Taliban
movement.
In Pakistan, the military's battles against jihadists will take precedence, and the state will
intensify security operations throughout the country. Social backlash from these policies can
be expected from conservative social forces. In addition, political turmoil created by an
opposition movement led by Imran Khan will force the government of Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif to seek negotiations with Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf. The political unrest will
constrain Islamabad's ability to make headway in its plans to improve the economy primarily
by reviving the power and energy sectors.

Click to Enlarge

Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigeria Prepares for Elections
Nigeria will hold its presidential elections Feb. 14. Since the transition from military rule in
1999, Nigeria has operated essentially as a one-party state in which the ruling People's
Democratic Party could be expected to win decisively. This, however, is no longer the case.
The previously fragmented opposition has united under the All Progressives Congress, and the
ruling party has suffered a number of defections to the opposition because of President
Goodluck Jonathan's eligibility to stand for re-election. Regardless, Jonathan will run to keep
his position, and ongoing legal attempts to block his bid for another term in office will fail.
The main opposition candidate is Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader whose
personal support base is in the economically weak northern states. He will attempt to broaden
his base by trying to channel political discontent over Jonathan, who hails from the Niger
Delta, to win support from the economically powerful Lagos region in the southwest. During
his previous stint as Nigeria's head of state, Buhari worked to minimize corruption. He may
once again engage in significant anti-corruption campaigns within the Nigerian government if
he is elected. Such campaigns are not likely to succeed in their aims and could lead to a
degree of political infighting as Nigerian politicians try to protect their financial interests and
patronage networks.
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Sub-Saharan Africa

Should Buhari win, one critical task for him will be to ensure that Abuja maintains a
constructive relationship with the Niger Delta political and militant elite. Buhari would have
to incorporate representatives from Jonathan's home region into his administration. During his
previous rule, Buhari was criticized for not supporting this region of Nigeria enough. If he
does fail to bring the Niger Delta into the fold, violent militancy could re-emerge in the
region. If this were to occur, militants would threaten onshore oil production, which
constitutes approximately one-third of Nigeria's production of 2.3 million barrels per day.
Buhari, however, already has shown some consideration for the interests of this region by
appointing Rotimi Amaechi, the governor from Nigeria's Rivers state, as director general of
his campaign.
The end of the election season will also see the return of important reform packages to the
National Assembly, such as the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill that aims to reshape
much of Nigeria's energy sector. However, the elections will leave the National Assembly
deeply divided between the two main parties, making any sweeping reform bills unlikely to
pass unless they are significantly watered down.
Boko Haram Remains A Threat
The Boko Haram insurgency in its northeastern states will continue to plague Nigeria. The
militant group's belligerence will persist regardless of which party or presidential candidate
wins the elections. A Buhari administration, however, would make combating Boko Haram a
higher priority. Throughout his time in power, Jonathan has dealt with the insurgency
reluctantly. This stems from his fears of empowering the military and because Boko Haram
operates in a part of the country where Jonathan has little interest. There is little economic
gain to be made in northeastern Nigeria, and there is much to lose politically from Jonathan's
support base in the Niger Delta if he were to redirect significant government attention to the
north.
Boko Haram will continue expanding the geographic reach of its attacks southward, possibly
attempting to demonstrate a sustained capability to strike at soft targets using suicide attacks
there. In the northeast, Boko Haram will continue its activities, ranging from suicide attacks to
large raids. The group is also likely to continue staunch resistance in order to maintain

territorial control over large swathes of Borno state and adjoining states and to expand its
territorial control where possible.
Lower Oil Prices Affect Economies Throughout the Continent
Whoever wins Nigeria's national election, the country will face the significant consequences
of lower oil prices. The government depends greatly on oil export revenues for its budget, and
the current government has already trimmed its budget to accommodate these lower prices.
The value of the naira, Nigeria's currency, has also suffered, and this could impact Nigeria's
ability to afford important imports such as food and petroleum products. While the price of
exported oil has dropped, the price of domestically consumed petroleum products, has not,
and demand for fuel subsidy increases could put yet more strain on the government budget as
Nigeria's citizens wish to see lower oil prices reflected in domestic petroleum product prices.
Other African countries will also notice the effects of the lower oil prices. Angola will be
forced to rethink its current development plans to carry out large infrastructure projects across
the country. Angola already has announced austerity measures and now will have to
reprioritize public expenditures. This puts an increased strain on the government's already
limited efforts to diversify the Angolan economy away from its dependence on oil exports and
specific infrastructure projects connected to those exports. Politically, low oil revenue will not
significantly alter or strain the relationship between the national oil company Sonangol
and the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola and President Jose Eduardo
dos Santos. This relationship is multifaceted and has lasted nearly 40 years despite a civil war
and long periods of lower oil revenue. The Angolan government may have to slow down
spending on some public policy and infrastructure initiatives, but the ruling party will not
relax its grip on Angola, so the country's robust security services will contain any popular
dissent arising from poor economic performance.
In other, smaller, West African oil producers, domestic budgeting will be affected similarly,
but in general investment in the oil industry is not expected to slow down. Particularly in
areas where exploration is occurring or about to begin, larger investments and oil production
are still five to 10 years away. The current low oil prices will not necessarily affect the smaller
investments required to continue with exploration, particularly in areas with a great deal of
potential.
In East Africa, the process of initiating oil production in Uganda and Kenya will continue,
although in 2015 it will reach only the preliminary stages of development. In Tanzania and
Mozambique, the development of offshore natural gas fields will continue, and security and
political dynamics hold little potential as disruptors. Tanzania will hold elections in October
but the interests in natural gas development will be the same regardless of who wins. The
Tanzanian government will support the approval of a new national constitution that redefines
areas of responsibility between the Tanganyika mainland and the Zanzibar archipelago.
However, the promising offshore natural gas sector will remain within the purview of the
national government.
South Africa, while not a significant oil producer, will also feel the consequences of slowing
growth in global oil markets. The South African economy depends greatly on mineral exports
and globally determined commodity prices more generally, which means that constraints on
public spending and the weakness of the rand will continue. There is no single pressing event
such as an election taking place in 2015, however, so the African National Congress-led South

African government will delay making difficult policy decisions and instead will carry out
policy adjustments that tweak the economy rather than making more fundamental changes.
The exception is the power sector, where moderate reforms and a bailout package for Eskom,
the national electric utility company, will take place in early 2015. Labor negotiations in
South Africa's gold sector also will be impacted by the government's limited ability to
accommodate the demands of the workforce and the potential resulting strikes could further
affect the South African economy.
Possible Instability in Congo and Uganda
This year, the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda are much like
Jonathan in Nigeria seeking a controversial next term in office ahead of elections in 2016.
These efforts could result in increased opposition activity and instability. In the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, President Joseph Kabila's re-election attempt would require a
constitutional change unless Kabila can delay the elections. Either an attempt to postpone the
vote or an early battle for succession could lead to a breakdown of political stability in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, where conflict often has pulled in many regional actors
with interests in the country. In Uganda, opposition to the potential for another term for
President Yoweri Museveni could lead to street protests and efforts to consolidate opposition
parties and actors. These efforts will be conducted over the course of the year. Alternatively,
Museveni could step down, but only to ensure that his successor would be a trusted ally
Read more: Annual Forecast 2015 | Stratfor
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