The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I still believe the Dollar has some weight to it

No one here is saying it does not. However, it has clearly begun its downward spiral. It will be a while before it hits bottom, unless they fix the inherent problems that are causing it to fall in the first place. In essence, that is what all the wars Washington DC has been waging, and are planning to wage, around the world are all about - securing America's political/economic/military future within the 21 century. Thus far, they have failed miserably. They have only made things much worst.

where it can not be replaced by any other currency yet.

Well, the Euro has been replacing the USD quite fast as of late. The Russian Ruble is on the rise as well, so is the Chinese Yen.

Unfortunately we have MAJOR problems that needs to be faced and fixed very soon.

The problems that the US has been facing are very serious and longterm. The Iraq gamble backfired, as a result the US is perhaps stuck in that deathtrap - a sinkhole for money and blood - for decades. Zionists are trying to push the nation into yet another disastrous war in Iran and/or Syria. We have an over-bloated nation of complacent, lazy and ignorant citizens. The nation does not produce anything anymore, it's essentially a service based economy dependent on other producers. Due to overspending and the immense national debt, the US Dollar has no real worth. The Federal Reserve is strangling the US economy, essentially holding the nation hostage. America's oil/gas reserves are dwindling fast, so are the oil/gas reserves of America's closet allies Britain and Saudi Arabia. American politicians don't represent the nation's interests anymore, they represent special interests. Russia is rising fast. China is rising fast. The world is beginning to hate America. And many nations are seriously discussing abandoning of the US Dollar in their international trade....

Americans have been so spoiled for the past 50-60 years that I don't see them tightening their belts to weather the financial/political/military storm that awaits them on the not too distant horizon. Simply put, I am not too hopeful about the longterm future of this nation.

The US is in desperate need of a nationalistic leader without threatening the rest of the world. We need our Putin ... soon.

You mean a leader that will bring production factories back to the US; invest in America's economy; abolish the Federal Reserve; close-off the border with Mexico; end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Make peace with Iran; bring home the million or so troops from overseas back to the US; abandon Israel to its bleak fate; stop antagonizing Russia, China, and various other nations; invest in alternative energy; invest in health care for the population; invest in better educating the population??? Simply won't happen.

[Azad]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

We have an over-bloated nation of complacent, lazy and ignorant citizens. The nation does not produce anything anymore, it's essentially a service based economy dependent on other producers.

Armenian, I agree on most everything you said.

Other currencies are being used, but still the dollar is THE mesuring unit. Irrelevent were it is positioned in its value with other currencies.

Simply won't happen.

I am not buying the "Simply won't happen". Things will have to change soon. We are at the verge of a economical collapse. I hope you are wrong. But than dumb sheet is in israel kissing joo azz and making more enemies to please the chosen self centered ... while the country is sinking to a hell hole.

[Azad]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

You mean a leader that will bring production factories back to the US; invest in America's economy; abolish the Federal Reserve; close-off the border with Mexico; end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Make peace with Iran; bring home the million or so troops from overseas back to the US; abandon Israel to its bleak fate; stop antagonizing Russia, China, and various other nations; invest in alternative energy; invest in health care for the population; invest in better educating the population???

How true word per word. Is it that difficult to ANY American to see what is needed to fix this country?

[jgk3]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Apparently it is. I guess the past 90 years (except between the Roosevelt-Kennedy period) of conditioning of the population to be world leaders in mass-consumerist culture seemed to do the trick of diverting the common American's attention away from politics and economics, except for their cheap televised drama substitute. And good ol political correctness helped to subdue, or at least muffle a nationalistic sentiment amongst Americans, while keeping "patriotism" and the flag alive to help rally the public under the president's speeches, to keep them complacent with belligerent foreign policies to whatever extent it could.

The masses will always be masses, and so long as the the minority that are dissenters are maintained as powerless, so long as there are no militia forces in the country that could rally towards their side, why should the White House ever have to worry?

The only problem they really face is the fact that this whole Ron Paul revolution thing has opened up the minds of many people, and in the longrun (perhaps in 15-20 years), the people might actually succeed in electing someone who represents the kind of policies that Armenian just stated. But is 15-20 years enough? Or is it too little, too late?

[crusader1492]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

...and in the longrun (perhaps in 15-20 years), the people might actually succeed in electing someone who represents the kind of policies that Armenian just stated. But is 15-20 years enough? Or is it too little, too late?

In 15-20 years, the US will be Mexico.

[Angessa]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Armenian I also agree with what you say that's very well thought out and interesting analyst. I Feel sorry for many american who are good honest people and would have suffer this fate.

Could you please if not too much post some information or english sources about american supporting terroism agianst Russia or in general? I Would be very greatful if you would.

[skhara]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I would like to feel sorry for Americans as well, but after the 2004 elections whatever happens to this nation it will be the population's fault. Voting for these ruthless criminals in Washington DC in 2000 was a mistake, voting for them again in 2004 was a crime against humanity!!! And guess what? Chances are, the next president in America will be another demon, McCain.

Does it really matter? 2000? 2004? different sides of the same coin.

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Armenian I also agree with what you say that's very well thought out and interesting analyst. I Feel sorry for many american who are good honest people and would have suffer this fate.

I would like to feel sorry for Americans as well, but after the 2004 elections whatever happens to this nation it will be the population's fault. Voting for these ruthless criminals in Washington DC in 2000 was a mistake, voting for them again in 2004 was a crime against humanity!!! And guess what? Chances are, the next president in America will be another demon, John McCain.

Could you please if not too much post some information or english sources about american supporting terroism agianst Russia or in general? I Would be very greatful if you would.

America's support for "terrorism" throughout the world is extensive and well documented. Regarding Russia: American terrorism against the Russians began during the 1980s in Afghanistan. It was Americans, with the full support of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, that organized terrorist groups we now know as the "Al-Qaeda" and the famous Mujahadeen, who were essentially the predecessors to the Taliban. American terrorism against Russia continued throughout the 1990s, however, this time from the inside. With Yeltsin the Drunk in power western backed jewish oligarchs sucked the blood of the Russian people for about a decade bringing Russia near total collapse. It is estimated that as a result of the imposed political/economic chaos, the Russian Federation had a surplus death of five-six million people by the mid-1990s. Also during the 1990s, the West, with the tacit support of Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, terrorized Russians by funding, organizing and arming ruthless Chechen terrorists. Needless to say, America has also attempted to undermine the Russian Federation politically and economically at every turn.

America supports different forms of terrorism (economic and/or violent forms) against other peoples as well: terrorism against Palestinians and Lebanese via Israel; terrorism against Iraqis and Afghanis; terrorism against Serbs via Albanians; terrorism against Iran and Syria; terrorism against Armenians via turks and Azeris; terrorism against Venezuela, terrorism against Cuba, terrorism against Argentina... The list is very long. It is estimated that as a result of America's aggression against Iraq during the past 18 years, well over a million Iraqis have died. We also have been seeing how NATO, spearheaded by the US, raped the Serbian nation and displaced hundreds of thousands of Serbians from their native lands. And we continue watching the slow, gradual and systematic genocide of the Palestinian nation at the hands of Washington and Tel Aviv - the world's evil twins.

The fact remains: The biggest and most successful terrorists within the 20th century have been the various branches of the US government. I am sure nothing that I have stated thus far you don't know already. Next page I will post a series of articles that deals with western support for Chechen terrorists.

How true word per word. Is it that difficult to ANY American to see what is needed to fix this country?

There is a fundamental problem in this. If the nation's political/financial elite attempted to "fix" these problems - they would loose their unsurpassed wealth and power. Let's not kid ourselves, America today is a global empire. As with all empires in the past, it desperately needs war and plunder to survive. America can't survive in its current form by minding its own business and taking care of its citizens, as Scandinavian nations do for instance. Let me rephrase that: The US government can take drastic measures to reorganize the nation's financial and political infrastructure to avoid foreign conflicts and concentrate on the nation's domestic affairs - but in doing so the US would immediately lose superpower status and utterly ruin its economy, that which is desperately dependent upon foreign entities, war and plunder. Thus, it's a serious dilemma. There is no way out of this situation. The political/financial elite in America know that if they are to survive as a global power they simply have to 'fight' their way through the 21st century. There is no other option for them. And we are seeing just that today. Most of the conflicts around the world today are intrinsically tied to undermining America's economic competitors around the world and "if you are not with us you are against us." This "Project for the New American Century," so to speak, could have been realized had Russia, Iran and China not been economically and militarily powerful. This century is going to be very-very nasty.

Does it really matter? 2000? 2004? different sides of the same coin.

I was hoping someone asked that exact question. The answer is no, politically speaking it does not matter. The are no major differences between Republicans and the Democrats in fundamental national policy issues. However, since Angessa posted a comment about the American "people" I was merely referring to the 'intent' of the American people. The majority of the American people, albeit a slight majority but a majority nonetheless, wanted Bush for another presidential term in 2004. And now, I'm afraid, the American people are getting ready to vote John McCain into the White House.

[Azad]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

This "project for the American century," so to speak, could have been realized had Russia, Iran and China not been economically and militarily powerful. This century is going to be very-very nasty.

When all is said and done at the end of the day it is going to be up to both China and India in being responsible on reducing their populations to half of what they are since everyone on this planet is seeking the “American” dream. Let us hope there is enough resources for everyone seeking the materialistic comfort of this coming century. Oil is only the beginning.

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

The only way to defeat the mighty empire is to defeat its financial apparatus. The following articles underscores the strategic importance of moving away from the US Dollar and the rise of other currencies. It seems as if Iran, Venezuela and Russia have gradually begun to implement such measures. If China and various oil producing Arab nations join them in the future that is precisely when American power and influence worldwide will begin to go into drastic remission. This inherent danger posed to the US Dollar by Iran, Russia and others today is coming at a time when the US Treasury is severely stressed with a national debt that is running in the tens of trillions of US Dollars. If Tehran starts a concerted effort of totally moving away from using US currency it is very conceivable that Russia, China and various other nations may follow suit eventually. Needless to say, such a move can potentially have a devastating impact on an already vulnerable US economy. As a result, I believe that US policy makers in Washington will attempt everything in their powers to foil such an attempt before it fully takes shape. Consequently, this may either result in drastic reversals in Washington DC's foreign policy formulations, or it may simply result in a major military confrontation that will seek to destroy the regime that first attempts to undermine the All Mighty US Dollar.

Armenian

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The Almighty Ruble

The ruble got no respect. During the cold war, it symbolized the backward Soviet economy. After the U.S.S.R. collapsed, it was an avatar of instability. Even plumbers in Moscow often preferred to be paid in bottles of vodka rather than rubles — the bottles did not lose their value. No more. Lifted by high oil prices and a wave of foreign investment, the once humble ruble is showing its muscle, and fueling a consumer boom. After gaining 20 percent in value against the dollar in the last few years, the ruble is even starting to displace the greenback as Russians’ currency of choice for both saving and spending. As the ruble increases in value — not just against the dollar, but against brawnier currencies, too, like the euro — imported goods are becoming cheaper for Russian consumers. Now ruble notes, once handed over by the fistful for a loaf of bread, are being used to purchase Mercedeses, flat-screen televisions and European beach vacations. Of course, the party could be short-lived. Russia takes in roughly $530 million a day from oil, its most lucrative export. If the price of oil declines, so will the ruble. And even if the price of oil does not fall, an oil-fueled boom brings dangers of its own. In many countries, an over-reliance on petrodollars has led to underinvestment in businesses outside oil and gas, and a subsequent withering of other domestic industries. To deal with such downsides of the ruble’s rise, Russia is salting away oil money in a rainy day fund, called the Stabilization Fund, which holds more than $120 billion. In January, Moscow will split it into two funds: the Reserve Fund and the Fund of National Prosperity, the latter intended for state investments.

Together with the Central Bank of Russia’s foreign reserves, Russian authorities have a currency reserve of $413 billion, the largest per capita foreign currency reserve of any major economy, including China’s. In an oil downturn, authorities could spend that reserve to protect the ruble. In the meantime, the reserve adds an aura of stability to the economy for investors. “Excluding a couple of oil countries where the money belongs to the local ruling family, which is something different, Russia has surpassed all the newly industrializing Asian countries,” in foreign currency reserves, Kenneth S. Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard, said in a telephone interview. Analysts say Russia’s underlying fundamentals are good, too. First, oil exports are not the sole source of the ruble’s rise. That was the case before 2007, but now foreign investment has become a significant factor. Private capital flows into Russia increased roughly 360 percent in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year. Only about 30 percent is attributable to oil and other extractive industries, according to the State Statistics Committee. Analysts also point to what they call Russia’s sound macroeconomics. President Vladimir V. Putin’s government has managed inflation, though certainly not eliminated it. And through its tight control over politics and society, the regime has kept demands for social spending in check — a leadership approach reminiscent of the authoritarian “Asian model” of economic development.

[...]

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/bu...=worldbusiness

Iran: Almost Dollar-Free

Iran is trumpeting its success at shifting away from the use of dollars in its oil trade. Such a shift is not easy, and generates little but costs. Mohammad-Ali Khatibi, an executive in Iran's National Iranian Oil Co., said Oct. 2 that after two years of effort, Iran uses the U.S. dollar in only 15 percent of its oil transactions, with 20 percent being carried out in Japanese yen and 65 percent in euros. Insisting upon non-dollar payment really only creates rhetorical ammunition. So long as the global system -- and the energy industry in particular -- is dollar-denominated, any non-dollar payments for oil subtract the exchange rate costs from the payments. Put simply, Iran's insistence on anything but dollars translates into a small transaction fee loss on every oil sale. So while Iran can stand proud and bite its thumb at Washington, proud that it has played a small role in reducing demand for the dollar and thus making the currency slightly weaker, the process racks up a hardly inconsequential cost. In the first quarter of 2007, a 1 percent transaction cost would have cost Iran $500 million, a significant sum for a country wracked by inflation and dropping living standards. Once the payments are done, keeping the proceeds in non-dollar currencies could make more sense. For the past few years the U.S. dollar has been weakening, so the relative value of non-dollar holdings has gradually increased. Such logic is more obvious for euros, where gains have been impressive, than for the yen, whose real appreciation has been only marginal.

[...]

Source: http://www.stratfor.com/products/pre...ected=Analyses

Are Iran, Russia, China behind dollar's free-fall?



Some see 'Currency Cold War' meant to bring U.S. to its knees

The hottest selling book in China right now is called "Currency Wars," which makes the case that the U.S. Federal Reserve is a puppet of the Rothschilds banking dynasty and it has persuaded some top officials Beijing should resist America's demands to appreciate its own undervalued currency, the yuan. This might not be news of concern to most Americans if the U.S. dollar were not in precipitous free-fall, having reached record lows against the euro yesterday. What would it mean if China ever threw its economic weight around by dumping dollars in a major way? Suffice it to say it is referred to in some quarters as China's financial "nuclear option," because it would be the economic equivalent of detonating a thermonuclear weapon in the world's financial markets. But the American dollar's fate is hardly in the hands of the Chinese alone. Other foreign parties suspected of participating in a new "Currency Cold War" are Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Diane Francis, a financial reporter for the National Post in Canada, says it plainly and boldly: "There is a Currency Cold War being waged by Russia, Iran and various allies such as Venezuela." The grand strategy being engineered by Vladimir Putin, she writes, is to force the use of euros as the international monetary standard as a transition to the Russian ruble. "This is simply a monetary version of the old Cold War, minus the missiles," she writes.

Experts don't see any short-term reprieve for the falling value of the dollar. Kathy Lien, chief currency strategist with DailyFX.com in the US, told Bloomberg she expects the American dollar to slide even further, forcing more lending rates cuts in the U.S. to stave off recession. "It seems like every single passing day we have a new record low in the dollar, and a new record high in the euro, and it's driven by the fact that U.S. data is continuing to deteriorate," she said. If other nations do not follow the U.S. in cutting rates, the slide in the value of the dollar would most likely continue. If the dollar trend continues spiraling downward, the risk is that nations like China – or Japan or Saudi Arabia – which have been buying U.S. Treasury bonds and thereby funding America's deficit, would stop that practice. That would be the nuclear option. China, with $1.3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves as a result of the massive and growing $260 billion U.S. trade deficit, has taken huge losses with the falling dollar, given that some 80 percent of China's $1.3 trillion in foreign reserves is held in U.S. dollar assets, largely in U.S. treasury securities.

[...]

Source: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57936

Russia Quietly Starts to Shift Its Oil Trade Into Rubles

Americans surely found little to celebrate when the price of oil settled above $100 a barrel last week. They could, though, be thankful that oil is still priced in dollars, making the milestone of triple-digit oil prices noteworthy at all. Russia, the world’s second-largest oil-exporting nation after Saudi Arabia, has been quietly preparing to switch trading in Russian Ural Blend oil, the country’s primary export, to the ruble from the dollar. Industry analysts and officials, however, say that this change, if it comes, is still some time off. The Russian effort began modestly this month, with trading in refined products for the domestic market. Still, the effort to squeeze the dollar out of Russian oil sales is yet another project notable for swagger and ambition by the Kremlin, which has already wielded its energy wealth to assert influence in Eastern Europe and former Soviet states. “They are serious,” said Yaroslav Lissovolik, the chief economist at Deutsche Bank in Moscow. “This is something they are giving priority to.”

Oil trading is nearly always denominated in dollars. When Middle Eastern oil is sold to Asia, for example, the price is set in dollars. Similarly, Russia’s large trade with Western Europe and the former Soviet states in crude oil and natural gas is conducted in dollar-denominated contracts. Gazprom, the natural gas monopoly, set the price of gas in Ukraine at $179 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2008, for example. There are no proposals yet to switch gas pricing away from dollars. As a result, companies and countries that buy petroleum products are encouraged to hold dollar reserves to pay for their supplies, coincidentally helping the American economy support its trade deficit. Russia would like to change this practice, at least among its customers, as a means of elevating the importance of the ruble, a new source of national pride after gaining 30 percent against the dollar during the current oil boom. In a speech on economic policy this month, Dmitri A. Medvedev, a deputy prime minister and the likely successor to President Vladimir V. Putin in elections on March 2, said Russia should seize opportunities created by the weak dollar. “Today, the global economy is going through uneasy times,” Mr. Medvedev said. “The role of the key reserve currencies is under review. And we must take advantage of it.” He asserted that “the ruble will de facto become one of the regional reserve currencies.”

Other oil-exporting countries are also chafing at dealing in the weakening dollar. Since 2005, Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, has tried to open a commodity exchange to trade oil in currencies other than the dollar. The Iranian ambassador to Russia said Iran might choose rubles to free his country from “dollar slavery.” To be sure, some economists have dismissed the project as improbable, given the exotic nature of a security — oil futures contracts denominated in rubles — that would blend currency risk with the dollar-based global oil market. Ruble-denominated futures contracts for Ural Blend, the main Russian grade, would be attractive only if the dollar continues to depreciate, said Vitaly Y. Yermakov, research director for Russian and Caspian energy at Cambridge Energy Research Associates. “There is a big distance between the desire to trade commodities for rubles and the ability to do so,” he said. All this has not stopped the Kremlin from trying. “We are in Russia, and the currency is rubles, not euros, not dollars,” he said. “We don’t want to depend on the rise or fall of the dollar.” “We will trade in rubles, to strengthen the ruble,” he said.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/bu...=worldbusiness

United Russia backs ban on "dollar", "euro" terms among MPs

The pro-presidential United Russia faction backs a proposal by the head of Russia's Public Chamber to ban MPs and officials from using the terms "dollar" and "euro" in domestic economic debates, a faction top official said Friday. "This is a very timely initiative," Vyacheslav Volodin said commenting on the initiative voiced by academician Yevgeny Velikhov Thursday. "We believe we should use only the word 'ruble'." "If today government members [and] deputies calculate expenses and revenue in foreign currency, speak and think about foreign currency, we will never establish our national currency," he said. "We need to start with ourselves, to convince society that our ruble is the most stable currency, and that it's strengthening," Volodin said. Volodin said the lives of Russians could improve if officials dealing with finance and economics were to begin counting everything in rubles.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060414/46423009.html