With the collapse of the USSR, the Cold War technically ended, and the political and economic power relations of the Cold War era were rendered obsolete. What we are observing today is a shift in the global power dynamics, which will eventually allign to a new axis of world order. Although the mainstream media channels all over the world have successfully managed to disinform the general public into believing that what has been taking place since the September 11 attacks is a “War On Terror”, a growing number of people are starting to suspect that there are other political and economic dimensions to the causes of the 911 Attacks, the bombing of Afghanistan and the current invasion of Iraq.
Ever since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944, which established the rules of commerce and financial relations among the major industrial states and the independent nation-states, the US has been enjoying an artificial privilage in the global economy through its ability to adopt the US dollar as the currency of global exchange. When President Nixon liberated the US from the gold standard in 1971, the dollar became the denominator of the world reserve currency, and the global economy became fully dominated by the US dollar at the expense of the rest. Although this fact has been known by those in financial and political circles, it is hardly ever mentioned in the media.
International institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank, gave loans exclusively in dollars, and thus, the rest of the world was forced to build their dollar reserves for repayment of debt and international trade. Today, over two thirds of the world trade is conducted in dollars conferring on the US an economic advantage. However, as well as being an advantage, the same system has also created a very fragile US economy that is fully dependent on the faith the rest of the world has in the stability of the dollar. Analysts know perfectly well that, as strong as the US economy may appear, it could collapse very abruptly if the trust in the stability of the dollar is broken, or if there is an alternative means of pricing instead of the dollar. When the US buys goods and services produced by other countries, the pricing and the payments are made in dollars. As the US does not have a corresponding need to accumulate foreign reserve, it enjoys the privilage of spending more than it earns, and as a result, can afford to run a trade deficit year after year, while the rest of the world earns more than it spends as a result of this artificial monetary system.
Currently, the huge trade deficit in the US indicates that the US economy has a “need” to “borrow” two billion dollars per day from the rest of the world to keep its economy from collapsing. Naturally, if the dollar remains the dominant global currency, there would not be any risks, and the US could continue to enjoy its privilage without any complications. On the other hand, any tendency to move away from the dollar towards another currency would spell disaster and would demolish the global hegemony that the US has been enjoying for nearly sixty years.
By launching the new euro in 1999, the EU challenged the US in an indirect manner by offering the world an alternative currency to do business in. Although a rapid transition from dollars to euro would be a disaster for virtually every economy in the world, and not even the Europeans would desire such a sudden change, a gradual transition was possible, and perfectly feasible, in the long run.
However, it would be too optimistic to assume that the economic rivalary between the dollar and the euro would take place without any friction or conflict of interests. The primary players that have a tremendous effect on the outcome of this economic game of chess are the oil and natural gas exporting countries. As early as November 2000, Iraq became the first oil producing country to switch from dollars to euro, and hence, also became the first to experience the wrath of the US military might. Analysts all over the world recognized that such a disobediance to American hegemony would be severly punished. It would be illogical to assume that the US would simply tolerate Saddam’s decision and would risk the possibilityof an economic disaster. Allowing Iraq to switch from dolars to euros would send a clear message to the other oil producing economies and that would create a domino effect. It is certainly not a coincidence that the Russian leader Vladimir Putin has annouced the possibility of selling Russian oil for euros, while Iran has been actively working on the establishment of a new trading market in France for the OPEC and Middle Eastern producers, which could potentially end the dominance that London’s International Petroleum Exchange and New York’s NYMEX currently enjoy.
Taking into consideration that the dollar is no longer a stable currency with its more reliable alternative in euro, one can easily see why the “War On Terror” is nothing but a catchy phrase designed to fool the public. The world is on the verge of adopting a new, and perhaps healthier financial structure, and needs to decide how the transition will take place. Regardless of what we are being fed by the mainstream media, there is a different reality under the appearances and what is happening in the world today has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism or jihad. Don’t believe the hype!
Forbidden To Smoke At All Costs
Employees at Weyco Inc., a medical company in Michigan, are required to undergo a tobacco test designed to monitor their tobacco usage. The company’s new no-smoking rule has banned its employees from smoking both at home and at work. The controversial policy dictates that failing to take the tobacco test will result in termination of employment, and four employees, who refused to take the test, have already been fired.
Will Your Children Own Their Genes?
The completion of the Human Genome Project was greeted with much enthusiasm and many hopes for a bright future pregnant with new possibilities. Currently incurable diseases would be detected early enough and would be prevented before they developed. Damaged organs would be replaced with brand new cloned organs perfectly compatible with our bodies as these organs would be specially grown out of our own stem cells. Our children would be healtier and would live longer. The possibilities that were in the horizon seemed endless. Some even believed that one day we would even defeat death and would perhaps beat God in his own game.
