Eamonn FingletonEamonn Fingleton

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Forbes Asia 9/04/2014 @ 12:01PM 62,254 views
Three Reasons Why Putin Laughs At Impotent America
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Deliberations at the current NATO summit in Wales may or may not produce a reduction in tensions
over Ukraine. But one thing is certain: irrespective of how the stand-off is eventually resolved, Vladimir
Putin will emerge with his reputation powerfully enhanced. Basically Putin is the new Napoleon, and the
Ukraine crisis is his diplomatic Austerlitz: he will keep Crimea and will considerably enhance the ability of
Russian-speaking minorities in Ukraines eastern provinces to stand up to Kiev. (Even the Economist
magazine, one of Putins fiercest critics, concedes as much. Click here for a commentary just posted at
the Economists site.)

As for Barack Obamas reputation, dont ask. A Google search this morning for Obama + wimp
produced more than a million hits. Nothing that he or his aides are likely to achieve in Wales will do
much to improve his image.

Yet Obamas critics are fundamentally wrong in blaming his impotence on personal failings. The problem
is not Obama; it is America. Over the last sixty years, and in particular over the last thirty, America has
thrown away almost all the once vast leverage it enjoyed to set the global diplomatic agenda. In doing
so, it acted in the name of an idealistic cause, globalism, but at the end of the day its idealism has not
been reciprocated. Even Americas ostensibly closest allies are now prepared more or less at will to
flout Americas wishes (even if they often pay sincere-sounding lip service to American objectives). As I
have pointed out previously, even such an ostensibly deferential ally as South Korea is not prepared to
support Obamas sanctions. Japan meanwhile has sounded at best only lukewarm understandably so
because before the crisis blew up it had come close to resolving a territorial dispute with Russia that
had festered for nearly 70 years. (In February the Japanese and Russians announced they would hold a
summit on the dispute in October or November and as recently as late August Tokyo did not demur
when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the summit was still on.) Then there is China,
which is openly making hay out of the crisis and can be expected to provide a sort of underground
railroad in shipping vital Japanese and Korean producers goods to Russia.

Even in Europe, few American allies are prepared to do much heavy lifting for Obama. As John Bruton, a
former Irish prime minister, has pointed out, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Greece, and even Bulgaria are
relatively sympathetic to Russia. Only Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia are seriously alarmed by
Putin. Most other European nations are in between and have their own reasons for withholding total
support from Obamas initiatives.







Barack Obama & Vladimir Putin at Putin's dacha...
Obama and Putin: the boot is on the other foot. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It requires just a moments reflection to remember why Americas diplomatic clout once loomed so
large and why that clout has now almost disappeared. Three reasons in particular explain the sea
change:
1.Production technology. Almost right across the industrial waterfront, the United States once led the
world in production technology. This positioned it as a sort of industrial fairy godmother courted by
countless other nations desperate to boost their productivity with transfers of Americas more efficient
industrial knowhow. Things are different now. The problem is that if you dont produce much, you dont
have much production technology. Any nation that seeks transfers of the most advanced production
technology these days must go elsewhere, most notably to Japan and Germany (ironically these two
nations owe their leadership in large part to their earlier skill in winkling world-beating technologies out
of the United States).
2.Finance. As by far the worlds largest exporter of capital in the early post-World War II era, the United
States was once courted by any nation in need of external financing. That was a lot of nations.
Unfortunately the United States has long since migrated from being, on net, a capital exporter to a
capital importer. For decades now it has ranked among the neer-do-wells of modern diplomacy with a
begging bowl constantly out for foreign capital inflows. Its net foreign liabilities are now in real terms
the largest of any Great Power since the late-era Ottoman Empire. Ironically among the most publicized
of the Obama administrations sanctions on Russia is that many major Russian corporations are being
denied access to American capital markets. As a slap on the wrist, this is about effective as denying a
resident of the Amazon rainforest access to the water resources of the Sahara desert. The fact is that
Russia exported a net $75 billion of capital last year and much of that was invested in U.S. Treasury
bonds. Meanwhile Americas net capital imports totaled $361 billion. It is the United States that needs
Russian capital, not the other way around. Of course, to some observers the key issue is that Russian
corporations are now denied the financial engineering skills of the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan
Stanley, and Citigroup. This might make sense if Putin respected Wall Street. In reality he likely regards
American investment banks with about as much warmth as the Great Lakes power station industry
regards the current infestation of zebra mussels. Basically the Obama administration is doing Putins
work in getting the Wall Street pests out of Russias hair. If Putin were to sell Russias holdings of U.S.
Treasuries he could put significant pressure on both the dollar and U.S. interest rates. His power to
cause financial trouble is one reason the East Asians feel the need to placate him. Although he is not
central to their effort to keep the dollar propped up, any move by him to exit the dollar would make it
harder for the East Asians to keep their currencies from going through the roof.
3.Trade. In days of yore when the United States protected its markets, its allies and other foreign
nations vied with one another for privileged access to those markets. Not anymore. Now that the United
States has bought into global free trade via its entry into the World Trade Organization, it has
unilaterally signed away all the enormous leverage it once enjoyed in trade relations.

Eamonn Fingleton is the author of In Praise of Hard Industries: Why Manufacturing, Not the Information
Economy, Is the Key To Future Prosperity (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999).










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Eamonn Fingleton
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Beyond Ukraine, Russia Is Already At War


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Pentagon Says Russia Firing Artillery Directly Into Ukraine From Within Its Borders


Doug SchoenDoug Schoen
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Forbes Asia 7/27/2014 @ 12:53PM 49,455 views

Obama's Russia Sanctions: Corporate America Has Much More To Lose Than Washington Realizes

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Almost everyone in the American establishment seems to support President Obamas new round of
sanctions against Russia. Almost everyone, that is, except U.S. exporters.

Although they have been quiet on the crisis, U.S. exporters are hardly happy. They are censoring
themselves because to speak openly would risk accusations of disloyalty. But they know in their heart of
hearts that Obamas sanctions will prove a double whammy for the American economy.

For a start America will be deprived of badly needed immediate export opportunities. But a much more
troubling problem is that in the long run East Asian and European rivals will take over from corporate
America in key areas of the Russian market.

For the Chinese particularly the crisis is an opportunity, because they strongly support Moscow. They
can expect not only to export even more to Russia but to earn special brownie points with Vladimir
Putin for dissing Obama. Meanwhile South Korea, supposedly one of Americas closest allies, has openly
stated it wont support Obamas sanctions.

That said, most of Americas allies are officially supportive. Such nations include Japan and Germany, as
well as France, Italy, and the UK.

The problem is that, with the possible exception of the UK, none of these nations is nearly as committed
to punishing Russia as the United States is. This applies in spades to Japan, which happens to be by far
Americas most formidable rival in high-technology goods.

For these nations, moreover, it is easy to have it both ways: while in public they can profess support for
sanctions, they can privately turn a blind eye to their own corporations evasions of sanctions. Again
Japan is the classic example: there is often a remarkably wide gap between official policy in Japan and
what in practice the regulators permit.




Largely overlooked by the American press, Japanese officials could hardly be less sympathetic to the
Obama administrations Russia policy. This is in part because the current crisis catches Japan at a
particularly awkward moment. The fact is that Japans single most important territorial dispute far
more important that its dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands is a dispute with Russia over the
Kuril Islands. Two of these, with an estimated combined population of about 15,000, were previously
part of Japan but were captured by the Soviet Union in 1945. All the evidence is that Japanese officials
have been quietly building good relations with Moscow for nearly a generation and, before the Ukraine
crisis intruded, had come close to a deal for the islands return to Japanese sovereignty. (The Kuril
Islands special significance is that they have a long history of ethnic Japanese habitation. This contrasts
sharply with the Senkaku Islands, which are tiny rock outcrops which neither the Japanese nor any other
people have ever inhabited.)

As it is, Tokyo has hitherto expressed only the most equivocal support for Obamas sanctions. Its most
notable contribution seems to have been to impose an entry visa ban on 23 Russian nationals. Who are
these individuals who are now debarred from entry to Great Nippon? Amazingly, Tokyo refuses to
identify them. It is perhaps overly cynical to suggest that the Tokyo Foreign Affairs Ministry has compiled
a list of 23 Russian shoplifters, drug dealers, and other insignificant neer do wells. But who says the
Japanese dont have a sense of humor?

Basically Japan sees no reason to offend Putin. Not only does Tokyo have no dog in the Ukraine fight but
Ukraine seems almost as remote to the Japanese as say Ethiopia or Somalia does to Americans. Tokyos
attitude to Washington these days is broadly similar to that of Oliver Hardy in the Laurel and Hardy
movies: Heres another nice mess youve gotten me into.


Laurel and Hardy
Tokyo to Washington: Another nice mess.. (Photo credit: Bods)




Already IBM IBM +0.33% and Hewlett-Packard HPQ -0.88% have been identified as big losers from
Obamas sanctions. Thanks to Americas cultural commitment to the rule of law, such corporations will
have little choice but to toe Obamas line. The question is whether Japanese regulators will expect a
similarly conscientious level of compliance from corporations like Hitachi , Toshiba, and NEC. The betting
is that far from honoring U.S. sanctions, these latter corporations will have a field day taking their
American rivals place.

The crisis also poses serious problems for U.S.-based oil majors. Exxons chief executive, Rex W.
Tillerson, has so far been one of the few U.S. chief executives publicly to object to further sanctions. He
has plenty to worry about. If Exxon is required to back away from its efforts to penetrate the Russian oil
industry, there are plenty of other oil companies based outside the United States that will be
happy to take its place. These notably include Statoil of Norway and Total of France.



Postscript: Posted less than six hours ago, this commentary has already attracted several notably
intemperate comments. Dissenters need to be reminded that many of the facts are still highly
debatable. One key fact, however, seems obvious: America does not have the power any more to inflict
serious economic pain on Russia and will shoot itself in the foot if it tries. Obamas problem is that the
world is now a big place and nations like Japan and Germany no longer take their cue from Washington.

Anyone who thinks there is general agreement on the facts should look beyond Fox News, the
Economist, and the Wall Street Journal. One of the fairest and most reasonable commentaries I have
read is by Patrick Buchanan. It can be accessed here. As for the suggestion that the Russian separatists
have behaved particularly badly, they have their defenders. A thought-provoking account, by the British
defense analyst Brian Cloughley, can be read here.





Eamonn Fingleton is the author of In Praise of Hard Industries: Why Manufacturing, Not the Information
Economy, Is the Key To Future Prosperity (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999).










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N.R.Jothi Narayanan N.R.Jothi Narayanan 1 month ago

An honest evaluation by Eamonn Fingleton standing on the exporters platform.



Reply



Pat Choate Pat Choate 1 month ago

A moment of truth has come for the EU and the US government. If the EU will not impose sanctions that
crunch and enforce them in a way that does not disadvantage the US interest, then the US should bring
our troops home and let Europe deal with Putin and his surrogate thugs.

But if the EU is serious, then appropriate EU/US measures need to be taken with Japan and China and
other Asian countries. Again, if they will not join us in opposing the Russian bear on the prowl, then let
them deal with Putin on their own.

As for transnational corporations, FDR provided a useful example early on in World War II. Standard Oil
was withholding technology it had developed with IG Farben, and the US government had to threaten
imprisonment and exposure before the corporation made it available to the Allies. If todays
corporations put their interests above those of the nations in which they operative, indictments will
clear their minds and priorities.

Called-out comment



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Some Person Some Person 1 month ago

Poor widdle corporate America



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Bill Bill 1 month ago

Money above all Eamonn Really? Not according to me or the other commentors



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Grant M Grant M 1 month ago

How a community planner was elected TWICE says a lot about our society. Obama is a joke, he has
absolutely no experience and it shows dramatically. Hes the laughing stock of the world.



Reply



Anthony R Anthony R 1 month ago

The West, EU, and the US, are doing exactly what they did to Germany at the end of WWI, piling on
degrading restrictions, adding insult to injury. These restrictions, and degradations, finally reached a
peek, leading to WWII, whereupon Germany felt it had no recourse, but to fight to regain its standing,
land, self determination, and right to have its own army, navy, and to protect the huge German
population in artificially created Czechoslovakia, and in part of Poland. If we back the Russian Bear into a
corner, while its trying to protect its cubs in Ukraine, Crimea, and Russia, it will be a sad day, for peace
in the world, and for the great advantage, and help we could have had in fighting radical Muslims, and in
protecting Christians around the World. Something apparently Russia is the only global player interested
in pursuing.

But its even more than that. How can Putin allow the West to influence Ukraine, or Crimea, when he
has seen what Western actions, and NATO, accomplished in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, totally destabilizing the
area, destroying the countries, knocking the population back into the dark ages, making them homeless,
countryless, refugees, and murdering, or destroying their sovereign leaders. Putin sees the radical
Muslim influx in his surrounding area, and the threat of Western/NATO destabilization in neighboring
Ukraine, and Crimea, one of Russias main naval ports, and he is trying to create buffers, and the ability
to act, and curtail any influences, before they spread to mainland Russia. What exactly are we trying to
accomplish in his hemisphere?

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dan hill dan hill 1 month ago

Great comment Anthony! Against the grain but on target.



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Zack Worrell Zack Worrell 3 weeks ago

Putin is a violent thug and should be tried, possibly executed for war crimes.

You have a very poor understanding of religion, culture, history and politics. Please do the world a favor
and go back to school or just keep your opinions to yourself because they are offensive.



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ethanhunt ethanhunt 3 weeks ago

Zack it is you who needs to go back to school and keep you opinions because you are offensive.



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Samuel Scheible Samuel Scheible 3 weeks ago

Often I refuse american imaginations about Europe, in your case- you defend Germany feels good
thankyou. You claim Germany had artificially created a huge german population within 1933 and 1945.
I refuse the word artificial. Firstably there were and still are german populations as a whole in the
countries around Germany even today. All the huge amounts of germans, who have come in the last 25
years to Germany from Russia are mostly german speaking Ukraine-Germans with German family
names. They were deported by Stalin to Kasachstan and other places, but originally settled as Germans
in Ukraine, 2-3 centuries ago and kept their german culture. The Sudetendeutsche alone were about 3.5
million germans living in the Czech republic after 1918 until they were disseized from their own country
in 1945. The Egerland which is in the Czech republik today was always german. (Egerlnder Blasmusik) is
still played today almost in every folkmusic -band and is part of german culture.
Also the reproach that Germany had started World War I is from a more complete historical view also
biased. Why? France had to tried to annex all the german land west of the rhine since hundreds and
hundreds of years and constantly had tried to push the german-french language border to the east since
hundreds of years. So it was all but right in 1871 for Bismarck to march over the border with about a
million soldiers to get back a country called Elsass-Lothringen, which is a typical german cultured
country. Louis the XIV and especially Napoleon had tried all he could to annex half of germany especially
all the big german territories west of the rhine. So it was all but right to stop the french aggression which
had lasted for centuries in countless attacks against the german speaking states. After the France was
defeated in 1871 huge resentmens developed against Germany like never before, and their aim was to
get Elsass-Lothringen back to France. So Germany actually felt encircled by 1914 by the French, British
and Russians. In this ambience Kaiser Wilhelm was defacto a miscast, to handle the situation and in my
eyes he failed even worse than any other statesman including Adolf Hitler. Even after the second world
war France pursued the policy of annexation of german land and tried to incorporate also the Saarland.
But thank God this time they failed . In 1956 or 1958 the majority of the Saarlanders voted for Germany,
to stay german citizens. The policy of the US in 1918 was not to bring a people which is a minority group
of a certain nationality under foreign rule. It became true for all others, but not for the german
minorities. Instead they were robbed of thei land or live under foreign rule like the Sd-Tiroler in Italy.



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Susan Thompson Susan Thompson 1 month ago

So what do you propose, Fingleton, you repulsive appeaser? We should do nothing? Join the whores like
France who sell Russia attack naval vessels that will in a couple years threaten not only Ukraine, but the
Baltics as well? You so thoroughly typify the moral and ethical bankruptcy that is the corporate value
system. You and people like you are an utter disgrace to humanity.

Called-out comment



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R.C. R.C. 1 month ago

Susan Thompson, you are 100% correctif this was 1939, Fingleton would argue that America & FDR
should ally with Nazi Germany. Shameless article!



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meme notu meme notu 1 month ago

Exactly. This man is a businessmen, lacking in humanity.



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Author


Eamonn Fingleton Eamonn Fingleton, Contributor 1 month ago

A reply to Susan Thompson:

I have been called many things over the years but this is the first time I have been called an appeaser.

What do I propose? For a start, I suggest that you and everyone else lower the decibel level. This is not a
time for Jacobin certitude. Many of the facts are still highly debatable. But one fact is clear: America
does not have the power any more to inflict serious economic pain on Russia and will shoot itself in the
foot if it tries. Obamas problem is that the world is now a big place and nations like Japan and Germany
no longer take their cue from Washington.

Your tone reminds me of the blind fanaticism with which so many Americans once supported the Iraq
war (a war I publicly opposed).

If you think the facts are established beyond doubt, you might check out the links below:

http://townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/2014/07/22/the-day-of-the-hawk-n1864351/page/full
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/25/russia-bashing-hatred-hysteria-and-humbug/

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DemandSider DemandSider 1 month ago

When it comes to our largest economic and military threat, the Peoples Republic of China, Eamonn
reminds me more of Winston Churchill every day.



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Dedeem Gersamiya Dedeem Gersamiya 1 month ago

It is very sad to read that. Have you lost your mind and the only thing you want is blood? Dont you
know its not normal for people who dont know the situation close enough and havent seen it? That
its a first obvious symptoms of a crude and agressive propaganda in the country?



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Zack Worrell Zack Worrell 3 weeks ago

Your reply reminds me of someone who just got called out by a smart woman and you cant handle it.



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Susan Thompson Susan Thompson 3 weeks ago

Fingleton, your reply is so vapid and devoid of anything constructive, that I can almost see you being
corporate-cloned right in front of my eyes. I am hardly a blind fanatic (youre wrong again) and who
cares if you publicly opposed the Iraq war? Full of yourself much??

No, the important facts are NOT highly debatable. It is Russian imperialism once again rearing its ugly
head. Take it from me, someone of Polish ancestry, we know these miserable neighbors of ours very
well. You know them not at all, obviously. Why do you think all of the former Soviet satellites were so
eager to join NATO the minute the window of opportunity opened? Clearly, we know something you
dont. To those of us who were formerly colonized by this empire, you seem hopelessly ignorant and
arrogant, so just STFU and write about something you know at least a little about.



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Author


Eamonn Fingleton Eamonn Fingleton, Contributor 3 weeks ago

A second reply to Susan Thompson:

I did not say you are a blind fanatic. I did, however, comment on your tone and it has not improved in
your latest contribution.

As for the only substantial comment you have made that Russia has imperial ambitions this may or
may not be true, but it does not bear on my point that the United States is now so heavily indebted and
generally economically enfeebled that it has little leverage in the current situation.

Called-out comment



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ethanhunt ethanhunt 3 weeks ago

why should it be taken from you .. who care if you have Polish ancestry.



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DemandSider DemandSider 1 month ago

The USA has far bigger existential threats than Russia. Mass water shut offs; rats eating corpses; debtors
jailed; homeless working families; increasing food shelf use, etc. After the closure of tens of thousands
of factories, this is the reality of third world America. Putin isnt my enemy, our corporate traitors and
their PRC communist government owned manufacturing complex is. Ten 9/11s couldnt devastate my
country like outsourcing has.

Called-out comment



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Anthony R Anthony R 1 month ago

@DemandSider; Very Nice..Too Bad we wont see, or hear any politician running for office, speak your
words. The only thing I hear from presidential hopefulls, is Abortion, Gay Marriage, Glass Ceilings, and
other inane subjects they just mouth the words to, thinking theyre impressing us, and garnering our
vote..



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ethanhunt ethanhunt 3 weeks ago

@Anthony R; you only hear Abortion, Gay Marriage, Glass Ceilings, and other inane subjects from
politician coz those are the things that matter. They dont care about the homeless or the jobless. They
care about the things that matters to their corporate sponsors.



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Patric Tomas Patric Tomas 1 month ago

The ignorant greedy US exporters cant have their cake and eat it too. You have to make a decision ass
wipes: or you fight on the right side or you dont. You cant have it both ways!!! What the Russians are
doing, trying to annex Ukraine illegally is all wrong and anything that can be done to stop that, should be
done. If you ass wipes lose a bit, so be it, because otherwise, the alternatives later on will be worse. Do
you understand this or are you too stupid!!!



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DemandSider DemandSider 1 month ago

Putin never sent tens of thousands of American factories to Communist China, or laundered money for
Mexican drug cartels. Our parasitic corporate elite did that.



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ethanhunt ethanhunt 3 weeks ago

Patric , what do you mean the US exporters cant have their cake and eat it too? They already had the
cake and they even took your piece.



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Anthony R Anthony R 1 month ago

To: Eamonn Fingleton, I forgot to mention in my posting, that I thought your article was spot on, and
loved the Laurel & Hardy memory, and photo.



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Cris Thorn Cris Thorn 1 month ago

Ukraine crisis was started with Obamas force regime change starting as soon as its former government
decided to accept Russia s economy aids which EU could not offer.



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meme notu meme notu 1 month ago

And here is the big difference between Russia and America folks

In Russia businesses are being told Well thats what you get for doing business with the enemy, invest
your money at home and be safe.

In America its How dare you threaten profit, you are un-American for not being in bed with Russia and
any other country we can make money off of even if its at the nations expense!.



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Philbert Snoggins Philbert Snoggins 1 month ago

Corporate American RUNS the U.S. government. All they were ever concerned with is their stock price
and anything which could imperil it. They want continuous smooth sailing and there will be Hell to pay if
anyone rocks the Corporate American Boat. Its LONG past due that these whiners start supporting what
is right in the world and start speaking up against the wrong doers like the Adolph Putins. If they had
any brains theyd be long gone from Russia. I dont feel a bit sorry for them.



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Anthony R Anthony R 1 month ago

@Philbert Snoggins; Stock Prices, concern all Americans, and America. Wall Street is Mainstreet, as most
of the common peoples pensions, savings, and investments are in Wall Street, and Stocks. When
Stocks (American Cos) do well, the American People, and America does well. The mistake of the many
the Barak Hussein Obama Admin., made, was lumping in Wall Street, with the true Global Criminals, that
destroyed Economies Globaly, The Banks, Insurance, and Mortgage Co.,. These are the criminals, that
should be made to make whole Americas Pensions, and not taxpayers that are burdened enough
supporting Lobbyist causes, and gold brick Politicians.



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dan hill dan hill 1 month ago

Sanctions are a form of war. You effectively damage a countrys economy and their ability to function
normally. They sometimes work against weak countries which have no means of fighting back. I dont
think they are a good idea against the one country in the world that has as many nuclear weapons as we
do. WWIII is not likely yet, but Putin is not a little doggy that you can keep kicking. We need to back off a
little and work with Russia on a negotiated settlement.



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trevor trevor 1 month ago

Any time we depend so heavily on Russia to make the American economy work we will have problems.
America needs to focus and build up who are our real allies?
Secondly it is time we start being creative again.. Everyone still wants to come to America. We still have
a lot to offer that many countries desperately need. Under no circumstances we should be depending
on Russian and China to make our economy work. We ignore South America where we should be
building up and we ignore phillippines. We need to build up these places since the are more loyal to us
than other Arab countries , Russia and China. Phillippines have a large population why didnt we invest
in this country before. In addition they are one of the few Asian countries besides Hong Kong that
speaks English we need to reach out to other countries. Russia and China are communist and they have
their own motive any time we depend on them for our economy to survive we are in trouble.



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DemandSider DemandSider 1 month ago

Russia and China are communist

If you define communism as state ownership of the means of production, while Russias banking,
defense, and oil and gas sector are partially state owned, you may be surprised to learn that South
Korea has more state owned enterprises than Russia, although the PRC is way out in front of them both.
Even in Singapore, most land is state owned, and a huge sovereign wealth fund benefits most citizens
there. The USA is the only large country dumb enough to buy in to the whole neoliberal snake oil.

Called-out comment



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James Trusty James Trusty 1 month ago

You good folks who wish to stand up big to Russia need to understand that your arrogance and self-
righteousness will eventually demand an exceedingly high price. The nonsense that America has started
in the Ukraine has already led to an economic war and will eventually lead to a death-struggle war.
America will lose both. Russia has more allies than seems obvious. Very best America can expect from
what she is brewing is financial and economic ruin and the loss of many lives, equipment, and money.
But her losses will prove to be far greater than that. Daring to play god always leads to destruction.

The truth is treason in the Empire of Lies.



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Zebrof Zebrof 1 month ago

I bet Ford made a lot of money doing business with Hitler. Should I say more?..



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Anthony R Anthony R 1 month ago

@Zebrof: The West, created Hitler, and made him possible.



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DemandSider DemandSider 1 month ago

American tax payers actually reimbursed Ford, GM, and other corporations for damage done to their
German subsidiaries by American bombs. Although capitalism has always involved corporate socialism, I
suppose this was easier to take when the top tax rate was over 90%, as it was from FDR till Kennedy.



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Jay Leong Jay Leong 1 month ago

Did anyone think no American interest (usually translated to American business interest) would not be
adversely impacted by sanctions on Russia? Is Mr. Fingleton suggesting we respond to Putins land
grabs, first in Georgia and now in Ukraine, in a Chamberlainian fashion? (We believe his supporting
appeasement of Germany was only one reason for doing pretty much nothing when Germany invaded
Czechoslovakia; Chamberlain actually saw nothing wrong with might is right policies and empire
building but thought the UK and France combined could easily defeat Germany.)

We blundered invading and occupying Iraq. It was ill conceived and poorly thought out and executed.
But there is a difference as compared to Putins desire for empire; we had no intentions of keeping Iraq
whereas Putin seems intent on absorbing, at minimum, all of Eastern Europe. He simply wants to
control more territory and the resources they contain, including the people who make and buy goods
and pay taxes. Today he claims the right to repatriate all ethnic Russians to Russia, next it will be
protecting all Slavs, then. Putin believes in empire and is hell bent on realizing this dream. He wants to
be remembered in history as a great conqueror.

So we have a choice: accept and do nothing about Putins empire building or call him out and take action
to stop him. In either case, we will pay some kind of price. Containing megalomaniacs never comes free.
Russia (and China) is relatively weak today, so the price of confrontation now will be manageable; we
currently have the upper hand. Tomorrow could be a very different story.

Putin and his kleptocrats must be contained now; not doing so today will have dire worldwide
consequences tomorrow. Its surprising that Japan and South Korea do not see this as they face an
increasingly expansionist Chinese leadership. Korea, after all, has historically been a Chinese satellite
state and China would like nothing better than seeing Japan pay for the atrocities they executed against
the Chinese people during WWII.

We can imagine living in a world controlled by two dictatorial governments, and it isnt something that
we would want to wish on anyone, especially our children.

Called-out comment



Reply








Anthony R Anthony R 1 month ago

Many of todays Global crises, are due to artificial, forced borders that sought to appease interests, in
previous centuries. Putin has witnessed the attempts at Geopolitical, landgrabs, or at the least attempts
of replacing sovereign leadership in a country, with one more westernized, or democratized leaders,
to perhaps improve the flow of oil, for Europe, which was the case in Libya, or purely for personal,
vendetta reasons, which was what the reason for the murder of Sadaam Hussein in Iraq. Putin is looking
to protect Russia from Arab Spring type of events, or influences in Ukraine, that could spread to
Russia. Not much different from the Western/NATO attacks in the Middle East, for their own self
interests. The best way, to handle Russias needs is through negotiations, which Putin was doing with
Japan, and was about to complete regarding the Kural Islands. However the West, Barak Hussein
Obama, has too much invested in Ukraine, and once again is absent when negotiations, are needed.
Barak Hussein Obama has been absent whenever any negotiating is needed, be it Congressional, or
anything requiring confrontation, or for him to give in to something. This no doubt, is mostly due to
his delusional ego, megalomania, narcissism, insecurity, and messaianic complexes, virtualy making him
unable to function, or perform the duties of the President Of the US. The following, including George
Soros, have contributed to influence events in Ukraine, and not in Russias favour, since 1988. The U.S.
State Department and USAID along with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the
International Republican Institute, the NGO Freedom House, and George Soross Open Society Institute,
and The National Endowment for Democracy, as listed by Wikipedia. So all these people/groups,
especially Soros,bending Obamas inexperienced ear, is causing him to push away Putin, instead of
pulling him closer in.



Reply


ethanhunt ethanhunt 3 weeks ago

We blundered invading and occupying Iraq. It was ill conceived and poorly thought out and executed.
But there is a difference as compared to Putins desire for empire; we had no intentions of keeping Iraq
whereas Putin seems intent on absorbing, at minimum, all of Eastern Europe. He simply wants to
control more territory and the resources they contain, including the people who make and buy goods
and pay taxes.

Iraq was about taking the OIL and everybody knows this. You may not have interest in absorbing Iraq but
you have interest in absorbing and taking its resources (OIL) and install a government that would please
Washington. Somebody like Cameron.

As for Containing megalomaniacs just learn to contain your government first and its policy of regime
change.



Reply








Anthony Charles Anthony Charles 1 month ago

In the beginning they didnt impose sanctions against Hitler either.



Reply


Robby Robby Robby Robby 1 month ago

you nailed it. people referring to WW II forget that time has changed a lot since. neither is Russia same
nor is USA. New world order doesnt like taking order from self appointed policeman. USA is spending its
political capital fast on useless matters.
End of the day USA is going to be the loser.



Reply


Daniel Goddard Daniel Goddard 1 month ago

He who digs a pit for his neighbor falls into it himself



Reply


Ashnard Ashnard 1 month ago

Oh no, huge corporations wont be able to move into another country to exploit more people, what will
we do?



Reply


B3ian B3ian 1 month ago

There is another side to this which a lot of people are over looking and thats the fiscal alliance being
proposed by Russia, China, India, Brazil, this alliance is to based on a model of the world bank a direct
challenge to the American banking institutes. Unfortunately for America it has been too busy trying to
institute government change by stealth, instead of working to strengthen ties with emerging economies.

The one point that also seems lost is what happens come November when winter hits the EU, all the
American sanctions and rhetoric will go out the window as no country will allow its citizen to go cold to
support American fiscal interests.



Reply


Frank Capra Frank Capra 1 month ago

My heart bleeds for those companies and their fat-cat billionaire owners. Adolf V Putin is murdering
thousands of foreign nationals and trying to rewrite post-WWII history. Failing to stop him now means
no political or economic stability in Europe and perhaps the world. That is the real long-term danger to
American companies and their greedy billionaire owners.



Reply



DemandSider DemandSider 1 month ago

Adolf V Putin?

Hes not the one forcibly removing his citizens organs and selling them. The communist government
that helps Walmart make nice profits is.

Called-out comment



Reply







John Makuch John Makuch 1 month ago

Really?



Reply



Chuck Lindenberg Chuck Lindenberg 1 month ago

I was just wondering this myself since it seems that even with MH17 going down the EU in particular
seems unmoved by the events in the Ukraine. We in the US had world support at one time and I can not
help but wonder which administration is most responsible for eroding that support.

Called-out comment



Reply






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