Consider this an opportunity for real change, not a finale. We sure do! — Ed.
A leading Russian political analyst has said the economicturmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that thecountry is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.
Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected dailyIZVESTIA published on Monday: “The dollar is not secured by anything.The country’s foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though inthe early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made myprediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse.”
The paper said Panarin’s dire predictions for the U.S. economy,initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years agoat a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given morecredence by this year’s events.
When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: “It isalready collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largestand oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, andtwo are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Nowwhat we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a globalfinancial scale: America will no longer be the world’s financialregulator.”
When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating worldmarkets, he said: “Two countries could assume this role: China, withits vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulatorin Eurasia.”
Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, hesaid: “A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in theU.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost theirsavings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors andFord are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole citieswill be left without work. Governors are already insistently demandingmoney from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at themoment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope thatObama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there areno miracles.”
He also cited the “vulnerable political setup”, “lack of unifiednational laws”, and “divisions among the elite, which have become clearin these crisis conditions.”
He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts – the Pacificcoast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with itsHispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; theAtlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of thepoorer central states with their large Native American populations; andthe northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.
He even suggested that “we could claim Alaska – it was only granted onlease, after all.” Panarin, 60, is a professor at the DiplomaticAcademy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authoredseveral books on information warfare.