http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7717669.stm "US President-elect Barack Obama will go ahead with plans to build part of a controversial missile defence system on Polish soil, Poland has announced."
Amazing. Out of all the idiotic, wasteful, and self-destructive Bush foreign policy decisions to defend, Obama picks the absolute worst. Yes, he's not President yet, but he could at least have hedged his bets and said no decision has been taken.
One of the things to remember is that, by symbolically running against the Empire, Obama didn't just raise the expectations of Americans - he also raised the expectations of the new metropoles and rising semi-peripheries who finance this place. Unlike ordinary Americans, who can't do much to influence policy unless they build strong social movements, America's creditors have vast geopolitical clout. As Brad Setser notes, since August these latter have stopped buying Agency debt and insist on Treasuries. This is a limited run on the dollar, and a warning that the patience of the creditors is not infinite. If Obama proves he's not a reliable counterparty, bye bye foreign credit and bye bye US economy.
-- DRR