The visible hand of the state (actually, several states) is everywhere in this diplomatic imbroglio.

Afghanistan is a prime example, as is the failure to settle the Kashmir imbroglio with India.

But, already before the recent debt ceiling imbroglio, the dollar had begun to lose its luster.

A recent case in point is the imbroglio in Andhra Pradesh in India, where the administration has moved to curb microfinance.

There is still the case of the forgotten imbroglio in Somalia, whose neglect on our part may be short sighted if not totally counterproductive.

But, already before the recent debt ceiling imbroglio, the dollar had begun to lose its luster. Its share in the identified foreign exchange reserves of central banks, for example, had fallen to just over 60 , from 70 a decade ago.

While Western politicians and economic policymakers were trying to avert Great Depression II, Putin was already working on the assumption that it had arrived. For the West, managing the resulting geopolitical imbroglio will be even more challenging than repairing its damaged economies.