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Today's financial crisis in America looks remarkably like the crisis that struck Japan 20 years ago, when a stock market meltdown exposed years of speculative lending, mostly dependent on real estate, and led to an economic collapse. The United States can take lessons from the Japanese experience as it attempts to engineer its own recovery.
In this phase of the financial crisis, struggling countries are looking to rising powers for help, rather than turning to the conditional aid traditionally offered by the IMF. This trend highlights the shifting global financial order and indicates that emerging powers will undoubtedly play a larger role as the international community attempts to define a new global financial system.
Although no one can yet predict the full implications of the financial crisis, it may have a silver lining for the U.S. if it is able to maintain its position of power while learning valuable lessons in humility. In the future, the U.S. may be more cautious about taking on massive debt, less reckless with its military spending, and more willing to cooperate on global problems.
Amidst an economic crisis that should give the advantage to democrats, McCain has kept the race close by stressing the importance of a candidate’s character, drawing focus away from policy issues. McCain has branded himself as an American hero, and regardless of who wins in November, the "hero" strategy has already succeeded in giving McCain a critical boost in a tough year for republicans.
As the economic crisis unfolds, the drama of impending calamity has spurred politicians to take action without fully understanding the crisis. Nobody knows if the bailout will work, and moreover, it fails to address any of the underlying economic problems that we face. Moving forward, our leaders must exercise much more thought and caution in addressing this wide array of economic challenges.
Relations between Russia and the U.S. have entered a dangerous stalemate. America cannot accept Russia's aggressive posture, but U.S. anger is only making the situation worse. Because of this political climate the foundations of U.S. policy toward Russia must be revised, starting by acknowledging Russia’s security interests.
While the attacks of September 11, 2001 scarred the U.S. deeply, the current financial crisis may prove to have more lasting ramifications than 9/11. Historians are more likely to see the economic crisis as a true global watershed: as the era of pure neoliberal economics abruptly ends, the U.S. must now decide whether to embrace a new American capitalism and accept greater government involvement.
Putin’s role in Russia currently remains unclear. Amidst the transition of the U.S. government, this factor will hinder U.S.-Russia relations. However, a bilateral commission made up of past U.S. and Russian presidents, with Putin serving the role of past president, can alleviate this problem.
China’s space program represents a major investment aimed at allowing Beijing to expand its growing national power into space. How well Washington responds will determine both its future capacity to dominate the high ground as well as a variety of terrestrial outcomes.
In the first presidential debate, the candidates discussed the way forward on numerous foreign policy challenges, but they left out the one country who must be engaged to solve many of these issues – China.
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