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Header2 [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXvFkK3dQ-iFyXc43gM48rlam0gi19NvEl425eAmKAGbuq3CfBcNguUieASHTqxg6brEB0SoFWR1JG7kJBv1OhUftMy83Br94I-4uo3K1Gaguxr0R_5AuBxcj4To00Bus3Q==&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==]
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Blue Star Strategies [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXvFkK3dQ-iFyXc43gM48rlam0gi19NvEl425eAmKAGbuq3CfBcNguUieASHTqxg6brEB0SoFWR1JG7kJBv1OhUftMy83Br94I-4uo3K1Gaguxr0R_5AuBxcj4To00Bus3Q==&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==]
is a dynamic interdisciplinary government affairs firm based in Washington, DC and
servicing the world.

Watch Karen Tramontano discuss the gender wage gap on Bloomberg news here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOiHluY22Hck3YnQi7cilDfFBuuukxbR0W3OJtmkpyrKPCBNGGFfm-VNQOAAmqNCl_cYyW1GwHDsbGkelBZBGIMm-OMBQ4o-5dsT11IopsRVjyAx4IoguSPvVCINXW6hjulCXucVg3yKFEK9ovOHpt2htj0vTxTxu0-ERhn7Hqy6-rlTMrHIxjju2YhQDcEl6TSyZQkMjgB1pcfsmYEivKhQ==&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==].

Be sure to read our latest op eds on Ukraine:

Sally Painter: "History Repeats Itself in Ukraine [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOYm6qsxRMscd-OD24ymFLFHLJ01O_QWFGOXibfUYF9Tlptm6CemaGR_Al2yRtgqmcXITXCytzuKFJlN1X3_jzjRDGMo-Y0Nq5G2dUSBIExM0EkJ3Ox19jRhc5b5jlv8AvQaVAm1wDTgB5L8Z2Vjl_HrcZaPcTkgdClkR7wfutt8ijiH1CsvGcHLNKicToMtmgCJauigEOw_kQvHMeVkn1LUg8ngQzu7toSMwMB3y4IiVfNY1aISfuWA==&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==]"

Karen Tramontano: "Republicans Are Wrong on Ukraine [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOpMNuP2xkK_aYZIXtGAT3Zx7mXww-32FGHjskKCrutrHaIlHhF6T0T_T2xyoDMnjgPFRkqeZM2EQQHU6B_2I9rXo22S1olB_bVfgE-d6FVeNJ1WiwkUkpekSUS5KkImsblgcOT7qF3C4MkXOQzpigS_zy7r3-bRxdGmmicz0UT2D9XPCCgLjatw==&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==]"

And read Karen Tramontano's writings on informal economies in the Council on Foreign
Relations here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOU4ZkYN4AJwe2pihTlcaXPR9LR7nxc1NAQiPfrypUfVNFt4t-YxrGpwaGp72wr4_lSK5CHfwy_UP5BzTV8yKcZ9otrVYZrxgLxKOwupBASwGR5Rna4IX_zqQauD3xvMywpfOPb7IHHwr3j0G2XtUs1WdI6osSXihnIxNNG8DnSZbdbAYTH5Cxj6nU6-tJw_Hcheo5jAjefjjt_GIHPReBNw==&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==].

IN THIS ISSUE

The Meaning of European Parliament Elections
Janet Yellen Takes The Helm
Macedonian Investment Strategy
Mexico's Energy Reforms Present Opportunity

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European Parliament Elections, Bellwether of Euroskepticism, May Signal Shift in
National Politics

On May 22-25, Europeans will go to the polls to elect a new European Parliament.
Although the Parliament's 766 members (MEPs) represent the world's second largest
electorate, after India, many observers discount the importance of the twice-a-decade
vote. On one hand, the EP seems to face a crisis of relevance: voter turnout has
declined in every election since voting began in 1979, reaching a low of 43 percent
in 2009 with only 29 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds participating. Yet this election,
taking place during a time of political and economic crisis in Europe, is being
carefully watched as an indicator of changing attitudes toward European integration
and EU policies.

Recent polls indicate that the EP's two largest parties, the center-left S&D (currently
with 194 seats) and the center-right EPP (now with 275), will receive nearly identical
shares of votes, leaving both with about 214 MEPs. This projected leveling out comes
with a shift away from the center, with far-left and far-right parties gaining seats.

Against the backdrop of struggling national economies, austerity policies and rising
unemployment - increasingly attributed to intra-EU immigration - populist "euroskeptic"
parties are ascendant. Polls indicating that euroskeptic parties may even win the
plurality of votes in the United Kingdom and France have led some to predict that
the May election could be a referendum on European integration.

Read the full article here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOAIbib4ikFuZH3weOyJ33z96Nt3QQUU6wdXPVa_X7bXQiU275mxlmVrdkDxbZ9xHLEMw4mhi7wFN7ix0R6Pt873w1-FoIDAG1Xpy_T3cEw1qLvuwC8oNZNmh9na7eZrFQjz6lVuADs6OzakXGWou0z0_SPV7uIK5bOLkSczsjFvLPMIWlX6lEdQbGRF5AwQaTjvtbjTBzbPVn3tXTL_6hM5dAxzjpPXgC&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==].
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Janet Yellen Takes The Helm as Congress Debates Action on the Economy

When Janet Yellen faced Congressional questioning on February 11th for the first
time as the newly minted Federal Reserve Chair, it was against a backdrop of precarious
economic health.

Just days prior to her inaugural hearing before the House Financial Services Committee,
the Labor Department had released another lackluster jobs report, suggesting that
the US recovery may be weaker than many experts anticipated. In addition, the long-planned
reduction - or taper - in the Fed's stimulus program had shaken international emerging
markets and raising global fears of a bursting bubble.

Congress wasted no time pressing her on all of these issues - and it is clear that
the Fed's first female Chair will have little, if any, honeymoon period. Markets,
too, are looking to Yellen to provide guidance on how and when the Fed will execute
the taper. In her first press conference as Fed Chair last week, Yellen spooked
traders by implying that the Fed would begin to raise interest rates in as little
as six months. Even though her answer was purposely vague and open to revision,
stocks fell and rates rose as markets absorbed what they considered to be the bad
news.

But it is also clear that Yellen will not shrink from continuing the Fed's extraordinary
measures to bolster the US recovery.

Read the full article here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOm5m3ZR_t4-0_VkQPIwna6fjNJtscrcVIM-mzlCU_UyzoTR7UBEXgiGXcY6UnuOPDm4VJ6rb-nCM77am_GFACEJweGmdB5D7EQtJW83fZ7dcukbbEmMc4wGjZrJJQ7t3_uznD-bZVTErdOAsZ1gIXG7ZsC3AGrz51nr6vIAL6HLNZn_QKWDqs-aWP2YRTErOi&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==].
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Blue Star Strategies and Macedonia's Investment Advisory Council

From March 1-2 of this year, the Prime Minister of Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, convened
his Investment Advisory Council for the purpose of developing a strategy to attract
more foreign direct investment - and the jobs such investment creates - to his country.

In attendance were a number of high level government economic policy advisors, including
most notably the Prime Minister himself as well as Bill Pavlevski, the Minister
of Investments, and a number of other government advisors. Also attending was the
Chief Operating Officer of Blue Star Strategies, Sally Painter, who was there among
other prominent global executives.

Primary among the topics of discussion was the economic situation in Macedonia,
which has demonstrated both encouraging successes and areas for growth.

Read the full article here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOiA3AJWPmKVWQIvwYPNo-gaPtUMuQawAYTTxgOg3JPTIrBFXqS4roSoZH2v4gaW5wpNgfxpDMa-yh58Hl5kwvOtcq6qslcxOiGSZdeA6Q4BSbl3TgAFc1JtJkQDtYw8kSX7niJP1P9E1WwPcVMX22kKBhADf3bJtv_2wdUcCTH0b4c4HlUH58Rkt02DJAMJvPqX1AEkZR4yGdoUwwbq3dfiVwjHIOpxiZZgcXerB8PSM=&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==].
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Despite Challenges, Mexico's Energy Sector Represents Real Opportunity

Mexico is in the process of overhauling its energy sector with reforms that would
bring outside investment for the first time in decades. Since President Peña Nieto
took power in 2012, the reform effort has already overcome one of the biggest hurdles,
the need to change the constitution.

And this past week, the energy reforms moved into a major new stage - the so called
"Round Zero", in which state oil company Pemex negotiates with regulators over which
oil fields it will be able to keep before the sector is opened to new investors.
To manage this process, the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) has been expanded
and strengthened, and developments are being closely monitored by outside experts.

But there is already controversy and scandal, testing the President's mettle for
reform.

Read the full article here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001pA6-kc2tpUnNJMfmGpjHPWCs8tBwdRIfODzbWPLojxLbrdRScVpiXj53I4wNoktOOJyCGB3xqNApPnDjzOUe8z84iLlaXc_6Zymw4Vz8qR0yu85ngHS_LxPivipUAwDj-LGcTKXfB08PfxJHT3JnPqNJH0FefUxXpLRnSlkTfPmUNyCxoolWZcnPIa02qeZtDUUiFRl91SvNA2N1EkEHZtfuM0LGoFvKsOnZRY2l43sc29rrU7nJ-v-Fv_w2HzewyDmC62Nz3cIgXQKe4wyMACpCEzOd0EwLRbLXzWGQPFudbsodNAKDsw==&c=z0-skm2nUFYqZtGl7TzMdMrBL-zI6Q5nSH2Z66FHOOVXEalrDY7q3A==&ch=5S9FUEXPC5z89HRkjce_94MlZfANU0p1ExFWjA8EMKD1YIr-u-0nEw==].

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