Putin of Russia challenges US power in the world

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

This can either be seen as a potential challenge to the power of the

USA internationally - involving the 7th house - or as a potential

increase in the power for Russia.

 

Best wishes,

 

Thor

 

Putin calls for new financial world order

By Neil Buckley and Catherine Belton in St Petersburg

Published: June 10 2007 19:10 | Last updated: June 10 2007 19:10

 

Russian president Vladimir Putin called on Sunday for a radical

overhaul of the world's financial and trade institutions to reflect

the growing economic power of emerging market countries – including

Russia. Mr Putin said the world needed to create a new international

financial architecture to replace an existing model that had become

" archaic, undemocratic and unwieldy " .

 

His apparent challenge to western dominance of the world economic

order came at a forum in St Petersburg designed to showcase the

country's economic recovery. Among 6,000 delegates at the biggest

business forum ever held in post-Soviet Russia were scores of

international chief executives including heads of Deutsche Bank, BP,

Royal Dutch Shell, Nestlé, Chevron, Siemens and Coca-Cola.

 

Business deals worth more than $4bn were signed at the conference –

including an order by Aeroflot for Boeing jets – as executives said

they were continuing to invest in Russia despite deteriorating

relations with the west.

 

Mr Putin's hosting of the forum capped a week in which he dominated

the international stage. He warned last Monday that Russia might

target nuclear missiles at Europe if the US built a missile shield in

Poland and the Czech Republic, then offered a compromise at the G8

summit involving switching part of the US system to Azerbaijan.

 

His speech on financial institutions suggested that, along with an

aggressive recent campaign against US " unilateralism " in foreign

policy, he was also seeking to challenge western dominance of the

world economic order.

 

Mr Putin said 50 years ago, 60 per cent of world gross domestic

product came from the Group of Seven industrial nations. Today, 60 per

cent of world GDP came from outside the G7.

 

" The interests of stable economic development would be best served by

a new architecture of international economic relations based on trust

and mutually beneficial integration, " Mr Putin said.

 

The Russian president said there was increasing evidence that existing

organisations were " not doing a good job regulating global economic

relations " .

 

" Institutions created with a focus on a small number of active players

sometimes look archaic, undemocratic and unwieldy. They are a far cry

from recognising the existing balance of power, " he said.