[Texgreen] Putin says he will challenge the dollar

[Roger Baker]

[Anyone think that  history is really on the dollar's side? Would you =20=

rather trust a currency backed by oil and gas and tough political =20
coherence, or one backed up by sub-prime loans and missiles? The Asia =20=

Times had a good article last year arguing that long-term =20
geopolitical factors favored an alliance between India, China and =20
Russia. -- Roger]

<http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/1844/1/>


President Bush, however, was adamant that his plan for missile =20
defense in Czechoslovakia and Poland would go ahead according to =20
schedule. Putin, for the most part remained politely silent. His =20
objections were censored in the media.

But less than 10 hours after the closing ceremonies of the G-8, Putin =20=

fired off the first salvo in what will certainly be remembered as =20
=93the war that brought down the Empire=94.

Putin addressed 200 corporate leaders at the International Economic =20
Forum in St. Petersburg and his comments left little doubt that he =20
had already settled on a plan for countering Bush=92s missile shield in =20=

the Czech Republic ....

He said, ``The new architecture of economic relations requires a =20
completely new approach. Russia intends to become an alternative =20
global financial center and to make the ruble a reserve currency for =20
central banks.=94...

Putin's speech is defiant rejection of the present system. We can be =20
sure that it has not passed unnoticed by anxious mandarins in the US =20
political establishment. Russia is announcing the beginning of an =20
asymmetrical war; designed to cripple the United States economically, =20=

weaken the institutions which have traditionally enhanced its wealth, =20=

and precipitate a shift of global power away from Washington .

Putin=92s challenge to the US dollar is particularly worrisome. He =20
emphasizes the inherent unfairness of the current system, which =20
relies almost entirely on the dollar and which has an extremely =20
negative effect on many smaller countries=92 economies and financial =20
reserves....

Putin sees himself as leading a global insurgency against the US =20
Empire. He represents the emerging-market economies of China , India =20
and Brazil . These 4 nations will progressively overtake the =93old =20
order=94. Last year 60% of the world's output was produced outside the =20=

G-7 countries. According to Goldman Sachs, by 2050 Brazil , Russia , =20
India and China will be the world's leading economies.

The transition from =93superpower rule=94 is already underway. The =20
centers of geopolitical power are shifting like giant tectonic =20
plates. The trend is irreversible. The deployment of Bush=92s missile =20=

defense system will only hasten the decline of the =93unipolar-model=94 =20=

by triggering an asymmetrical war, where Forex reserves, vital =20
resources and political maneuvering will be used as the weapons-of-=20
choice.=