Marc Chandler, Global Head of Currency Strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman has a good piece out today highlighting the differing economic policy agendas of the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India and China).  In it he suggests CRIBS is a more appropriate moniker for the group as it is China and Russia leading the way for [...]

From Charlie Rose’s site: “Reaction to President Obama’s speech in Cairo with Mohamad Bazzi, Roger Cohen, David Ignatius and Robin Wright.”

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George H. W. Bush’s National Security Advisor talks with Charlie Rose and Carlos Pascual, Brookings Institute vice president and director of Foreign Policy. They opine on “the Obama Doctrine” as Barack Obama nears his 100-day mark in office.

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I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but the Chinese have been making a lot of muscular moves diplomatically. While shifts in balance of power often take decades, it is increasingly apparent that China is making a strategic move in that direction right now.
We have been chronicling these moves here in a [...]

This comes via the Financial Times (Hat tip CR):
China’s central bank on Monday proposed replacing the US dollar as the international reserve currency with a new global system controlled by the International Monetary Fund.
In an essay posted on the People’s Bank of China’s website, Zhou Xiaochuan, the central bank’s governor, said the goal would be [...]

If you have noticed, Pakistan is in a real state of crisis right now. Given the fact that this country is both unstable and possesses nuclear weapons courtesy of A. Q. Khan, it stands to reason that everyone should be interested. The fact that it has a border with Afghanistan only makes things that much more urgent.

In this video on Charlie Rose, Steve Coll of the “New Yorker” discusses Pakistan with Joe Klein, Hasain Haqqani, Director of the Center for International Relations and Professor at Boston University, and Imtiaz Ali.

The foreign policy challenges facing the new Obama Administration have mounted significantly in recent days. On the back of civil unrest and trade sanctions in Mexico, a destabilizing power struggle in Pakistan, the latest news to hit in the last week comes from Russia.

Russia is going to re-arm. Nuclear detente is at an end.

Marshall Auerback here.

Here is my take on Chinese Premier Wen’s recent statements. At the end of the day, too many people seem to be working on an old gold standard type of model in the sense that there are implied limits in terms of what the US can do as an issuer of a fiat currency. I have always seen this as relevant only to the extent that China insists on being paid back in another currency other than dollars. The irony is too wonderful here, for what China has become expert at is manipulating the Obama administration. Think from the Chinese perspective about the wonders of getting Secetary Clinton to grovel and thank them for buying our paper.