*Russian analyst predicts decline and breakup of U.S. * *19:31*
| *24*/ *11*/ 2008 <http://en.rian.ru/world/20081124/118512713-print.html> MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts. Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily Izvestia published on Monday: "The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse." The paper said Panarin's dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year's events. When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: "It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world's financial regulator." When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he said: "Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia." Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: "A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles." He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions." He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong. He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." On the fate of the U.S. dollar, he said: "In 2006 a secret agreement was reached between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. on a common Amero currency as a new monetary unit. This could signal preparations to replace the dollar. The one-hundred dollar bills that have flooded the world could be simply frozen. Under the pretext, let's say, that terrorists are forging them and they need to be checked." When asked how Russia should react to his vision of the future, Panarin said: "Develop the ruble as a regional currency. Create a fully functioning oil exchange, trading in rubles... We must break the strings tying us to the financial Titanic, which in my view will soon sink." Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare. http://en.rian.ru/world/20081124/118512713.html *Gorbachev calls on Obama to carry out 'perestroika' in the U.S. * *21:56* | *07*/ *11*/ 2008 <http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081107/118196981-print.html> MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said that the Obama administration in the United States needs far-reaching 'perestroika' reforms to overcome the financial crisis and restore balance in the world. The term perestroika, meaning restructuring, was used by Gorbachev in the late 1980s to describe a series of reforms that abolished state planning in the Soviet Union. In an interview with Italy's La Stampa published on Friday, Gorbachev said President-elect Barack Obama needs to fundamentally change the misguided course followed by President George W. Bush over the past eight years. Gorbachev said that after transforming his country in the late 1980s, he had told the Americans that it was their turn to act, but that Washington, celebrating its Cold War victory, was not interested in "a new model of a society, where politics, economics and morals went hand in hand." He said the Republicans have failed to realize that the Soviet Union no longer exists, that Europe has changed, and that new powers like China, Brazil and Mexico have emerged as important players on the world stage. He told the paper that the world is waiting for Obama to act, and that the White House needs to restore trust in cooperation with the United States among the Russians. "This is a man of our times, he is capable of restarting dialogue, all the more since the circumstances will allow him to get out of a dead-end situation. Barack Obama has not had a very long career, but it is hard to find faults, and he has led an election campaign winning over the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton herself. We can judge from this that this person is capable of engaging in dialogue and understanding current realities." Former Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, founder of now defunct Yukos oil giant, who is in prison on fraud and tax evasion charges, also used the word perestroika in discussing the future course of the Obama administration. In an article published in the business daily Vedomosti on Friday, Khodorkovsky said Obama's election win was not merely another change of power in a separate country, but was important for all states. He said that, "being a liberal himself, he thinks that the world will take a left turn," and that "a global perestroika would be a logical response to the global crisis." "The paradigm of global development is about to change. The era inaugurated by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher 30 years ago is over." He said decisions in neoliberal economies had been made mainly by supranational institutions and transnational corporations. Khodorkovsky predicted: "Globalization will slow to a crawl, but will not stop. The 'golden billion' of the world's richest people will have to abandon hopes of increasing their wealth, but high consumer standards which developed at the end of the 20th century will be unaffected by the change. The striving for political freedom and open competition of personalities and ideas will not disappear." Poll - How will Russia-U.S. relations change under Obama?<http://en.rian.ru/vote/> http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081107/118196981.html Pada tanggal 18/11/08, Hafsah Salim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> menulis: > > Obama: Batalkan Negara Palestina Kalo Menjadi Ancaman Israel !!! > > Yang berjanji untuk menyelesaikan masalah Palestina adalah presiden > Bush bukan Obama !!! Kalo masalah sikap Obama dalam masalah Palestina > sudah jelas dimana dia berdiri, selama kampanye dia berulangkali > menyatakan, TIDAK ADA DIALOG DENGAN TERRORIST, dan Hamas adalah > terrorist kakap yang terdaftar di United Nation yang harus ditumpas > semua negara diseluruh dunia. > > Obama menjelaskan posisi Amerika dalam konflik Timur Tengah ini adalah > bahwa Negara Palestina hanya mungkin berdiri selama keamanan Israel > terjamin !!! > > Obama mengutuk dan tidak tawar menawar dengan pendapat Hamas yang > menuntut berdirinya negara Palestina dengan melalui pembubaran Israel. > > > Jusfiq Hadjar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Ini angin baru... Ah, kalau dia berhasil > > mencari pemecahan masaalah Palestina..... > > ---- > > > > Dalam semua kampanye Obama enggak ada satupun pernyataannya yang > bermaksud menutup Guantanamo karena Guantanamo hanyalah pulo tempat > memenjarakan tahanan2 yang terlibat dalam pemboman2 kedutaan2 Amerika > diluar negeri. > > Lalu kenapa Guantanamo harus ditutup ??? Enggak logis bukan ??? Kalo > Guantanamo harus ditutup, kenapa semua penjara diseluruh Amerika > enggak sekalian ditutup ??? > > Kalopun memang ada keluhan terjadinya penyiksaan tahanan, maka pelaku > penyiksaan itulah yang ditangkap dan diadili bukan penjaranya yang > ditutup.... goblok bukan ??? > > Adanya penyiksaan tahanan bisa diselidiki, pelakunya dihukum, TETAPI > BUKAN BERARTI TAHANANNYA DILEPAS DAN PENJARANYA DITUTUP !!!! > > Berpikirlah secara cerdas, logis, rasional, dan bebas dari religious > prejudice !!! > > UNTUK MASALAH PALESTINA, pemecahannya sudah ada yaitu perjanjian Camp > David yang menyatakan berdirinya negara Palestina. Namun karena > perjanjian Camp David itu dibatalkan secara sepihak oleh Hamas, mana > mungkin lagi bisa berharap berdirinya negara Palestina ??? > > Bahkan kelihatannya, Hamas ini agen Mossad, karena sekarang dia > menuntut agar Israel melepaskan pendudukannya atas wilayah2 Arab > seperti sebelum 1967, jelas tuntutan ini kelihatannya saja merugikan > Israel, kelihatannya saja se-olah2 Hamas memerangi Israel, tapi kalo > anda mengerti strategi politik, maka tuntutan Hamas sama saja dengan > menyatakan negara Palestina dibubarkan. > > Karena, kalo memang Israel harus melepaskan pendudukannya atas > wilayah2 Arab, maka dataran Golan harus dikembalikan kepada Syria, > dataran Sheba harus dikembalikan kepada Libanon, dan yang paling > penting adalah Gaza dan Westbank harus dikembalikan kepada Mesir. > > Hal ini memang sedang dalam perancangan pemimpin2 Israel yang sedang > giat berunding dengan Syria, Libanon, Mesir, Yordania, maupun Arab > Saudia sehingga dengan kata lain, dikembalikannya wilayah2 tsb membuat > negara Palestina hilang dari peta bumi karena wilayah negara Palestina > yang direncanakan dalam perjanjian Camp David adalah wilayah Gaza dan > Westbank yang sebelumnya menjadi wilayah milik Mesir. > > Lalu apa artinya kalo Gaza dan Westbank nantinya dikembalikan ke > Mesir, apakah orang2 Arab Palestina ini mau memberontak terhadap Mesir > untuk melanjutkan perjuangannya mendirikan negara Palestina ??? Tentu > tidak mungkin karena untuk memulai perjuangan politik lagi setelah > wilayah itu kembali ke Mesir tentu harus dimulai dari nol lagi karena > dulunya wilayah itu dijanjikan menjadi wilayah negara Palestina oleh > Israel bukan oleh Mesir. > > Kesimpulannya sangat jelas, sangat bodoh kalo Hamas menuntut agar > Israel mundur kembali ke posisi sebelum perang tujuh hari 1967 dulu > karena artinya Hamas bunuh diri sendiri. > > Tetapi saya yakin bahwa Hamas memang bukanlah orang bodoh, dan > tuntutannya justru sangat cerdik, sangat cerdas, hanya tujuannya yang > berbeda, yaitu memang untuk menguntungkan Israel dengan jalan pura2 > memeranginya. DENGAN KATA LAIN, HAMAS ADALAH AGEN MOSSAD YANG DITANAM > DIPIHAK LAWAN UNTUK MENJALANKAN LANGKAH2 BLUNDER YANG MENGUNTUNGKAN > ISRAEL. > > Jadi dalam kaitan dengan Obama, sudah juga jelas dari pernyataan2nya > selama kampanye, yaitu: TIDAK AKAN ADA DIALOG DENGAN TERRORIST DAN > ISRAEL TETAP MERUPAKAN SEKUTU PENTING BAGI KEPENTINGAN AMERIKA DI > TIMUR TENGAH !!!!!!!!!!!! > > Ny. Muslim binti Muskitawati. > > >
