Alastair Newton

Alastair Newton

Alastair Newton, an alumnus of the LSE, is a professional political analyst who was based in the City of London from 2005 to 2015. As such, he sought to anticipate, analyse and explain political and geopolitical events worldwide which may impact on financial markets. In addition to regular commentary on current political “issues” he is also co-author of major studies on China, India, Indonesia, Israel/Iran and North Korea.

Prior to his move to the City, Alastair spent 20 years as a career diplomat with the British Diplomatic Service. He served in Sub-Saharan Africa, Paris (at the OECD) and in the United States. In London, he worked in intelligence co-ordination (including during the 1990/91 gulf War), policy planning and economics relations, as well as running the Prime Minister’s G7/8 team from 1998 to 2000. He was on secondment from the Diplomatic Service to the City from 2000 to 2002.

In addition to his mainstream work, Alastair was Chair of the Supervisory Board of African Development Corporation from 2013 to 2015; President of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies from 2010 to 2012; and a member of the Council of Chatham House from 2010 to 2015.

In July 2015 he moved to Livingstone in Zambia where he is Co-founder and Director of Alavan Business Advisory Ltd (www.alavan.biz) specialising in business development in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and Zambia and its neighbouring countries in particular. In parallel, he continues to analyse political and geopolitical events globally as a consultant and remains a frequent commentator on television and radio and a regular speaker at conferences and other events worldwide.

For further information on Alastair’s political and business development work please contact him at adbnewton@gmail.com

Post Archive

30 January 2024
Investors have, overall, learned to live with the Russia/Ukraine war and the current crisis in the Middle East, as well as China/Taiwan tensions. However, they still need to…
13 September 2023
Contrary to much of the media coverage, the launch of Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro likely does not mark a major SMIC breakthrough in chip manufacturing and is almost certainly…
11 September 2023
Recent words and deeds confirm Beijing’s readiness to retaliate against sanctions imposed by the US and its allies. However, its current dominance of the global strategic metals…
30 August 2023
Washington’s latest move to hobble China’s economy through technology-related sanctions is undoubtedly an escalation. But it is unlikely to have more than marginal practical…
06 April 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may go down in history as the moment in the current geopolitical cycle when politics took over from economics as the main decision-making driver. The…
15 September 2021
Three ‘events’ in the coming weeks stand to have a significant impact on the timing of peak oil, with profound implications for Saudi Arabia in particular. “Gradually and then…
11 August 2020
A change in the Oval Office next year may presage a change in America’s approach to the Middle East; but it would not necessarily make the challenges there any less intractable.…
01 July 2020
President Trump’s fight for a second term may spill over into US policy in the Middle East between now and 3 November. Donald Trump is suffering a significant slump in his…
17 April 2020
Last weekend’s agreement notwithstanding, international cooperation over oil output stands to be short-lived as the short- and medium-term battles for market share intensify. Over…
07 April 2020
Alastair Newton argues that despite its early mishandling of Covid-19, the pandemic will shift the global balance of power further in China’s favour. “The new coronavirus is…