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Talking Points July 9, 2008 I wanted to write a few bullet points for a group discussion. Perhaps my precepts are worth sharing here: 1. Political and economic power in the world is moving east and south. 2. Note the trends in Davos' conference: countries that count are BRIC. 3. World's monetary system is badly broken... hence a new Bretton Woods is now discussed. 4. Post-WWII institutions oriented around Western democracies are increasingly irrelevant. 5. US has lost its soft and hard power leadership. 6. Arms control does not work... otherwise we would throw stones at our enemies. 7. Terrorism is largely a definition. Green Mountain Boys were terrorists to George III because they did not wear red uniforms and hid behind trees. Sheep in Vietnam were enemy combatants to Americans since they were a food supply. Israel was a nation founded by terrorists who became patriots. The lists of US made terrorist tools are legion. 8. The US government has been bought to serve business interests and not given a mandate to protect the weak. 9. Policy to identify terrorists may increase the number, i.e. imprisoning and questioning 20 suspects to get one terrorist may move twenty families to the terrorist side. 10. We are unprepared for a world of universal nuclear armament, multi-equal currencies, US long term debt to growing nations, foreign ownership of US essential services like airlines, competition on fields of others' choosing and acceptance of the pain of engagement with hard decisions... all painful to some segment of the population. One extra: 11. The US will downsize its military by 50% to balance its budget. - dean |
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