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Jahanshah 's Recent Links
Iran International: Merchants Continue Strikes In Tehran And Other Iranian Cities
Jahanshah | one year ago
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The New Yorker: Donald Trump Barely Pays Any Taxes: Will Anyone Care?
Jahanshah | 3 years ago
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CPJ: Urging Iran to stop arresting journalists, release Kayvan Samimi
Jahanshah | 3 years ago
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Israel’s retaliation against Iran would cause ‘major war’ | Jonathan Panikoff
Viroon | 15 hours ago
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How stolen socks and a ladies’ handbag led to a British Diplomat's kidnap in Iran | BBC Newsnight
Viroon | 15 hours ago
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“I’m Jewish, and I’ve Covered Wars. I Know War Crimes When I See Them”: Reporter Peter Maass on Gaza
Viroon | 15 hours ago
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Germany does not allow Euro to be used as an instrument of foreign policy and until it does, there is no rival to the USD so for now it is simply wishful thinking that the dominance of world finance by the US can be challenged:
Europe will never be a top-tier geopolitical power
Despite the lack of a joint army, the EU has potent geopolitical tools. The European Economic Community started with a common external commercial policy, signed in 1957. The Maastricht treaty 35 years later created the instruments of a common foreign and security policy and a monetary union.
Among those, trade policy and the euro are potentially the most potent. With its launch in 1999, the euro immediately became the world’s second-largest currency for official reserves, for invoicing and international financial transactions. But it never even came close to rivalling the US dollar. Its distant second place was a conscious choice. EU leaders were always more concerned with the internal stability of the monetary union — price and fiscal stability — than the currency’s potential use as a foreign policy tool.
Back then, the external security framework of most EU members was taken care of by Nato. The EU had no ethical qualms about the global imbalances that arose in the early 2000s. The US was conveniently mopping up the savings surpluses of newly industrialised countries and, later, of the eurozone. The EU was a happy free rider both militarily and economically.