As Stephen Harper becomes more and more bellicose toward Russia, the best case explanation being that he seeks the Ukrainian vote at home, Murray Dobbin lays out the big geopolitical picture, complete with the “NewSilk Road,” and an end to the artifically high value of the US dollar.
“The demonization of Putin and Russia is having a major influence on an issue that has barely been mentioned in the media: Putin’s plan to create the petroruble and decouple Russia’s energy exports from the dollar. It is arguable that push for the petroruble is a global issue many times more important to the U.S. than anything that happens in the Ukraine, but American efforts to isolate Russia is actually accelerating the process. It is also driving Russia to look to the east instead of Europe…”