In theory, the Saudis also have the economic clout both to entice and rein in the Taliban.

Therefore, the Chinese are doing everything possible to strengthen their economic and political position in Russia, and to draw Russia into their sphere of influence.

This must be done through joint efforts, regardless of the economic or political influence of each country.

As the BIS s chief economist in the 1930 s, Jacobsson knew how to use economic analysis as a basis for influence.

Meanwhile, German diplomacy is actively reconstructing the country s economic and cultural spheres of influence, and not only in Eastern Europe.

Britain in the Wilderness

US influence in Burma is unlikely to outweigh that of increasingly powerful Asian neighbors.

As regulation is a form of competition between governments, focusing on improved regulation increasingly looks like the best channel of influence available to OECD countries.

France retains strong political and economic influence in its former African colonies (Françafrique) and has supplied economic aid and troops for peace keeping missions in Ivory Coast and Chad.

With influence must come accountability.

No Country for Young Oligarchs

Finland fell into the Soviet sphere.

In mid 1960 s Great Britain, Nicholas Kaldor, the world class Cambridge economist and an influential adviser to the Labour Party, raised an alarm over deindustrialization.

Fernández is occupied with Argentina s internal problems. Correa s Ecuador lacks economic weight, and former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is probably not interested, with Brazil s growing economic and political clout having placed it out of Cuba s reach.

The EU has even more leverage.

He possesses more influence than power.

The Romans also exerted influence on the Persian Gulf.

Larry Summers, now the highly influential director of President Barack Obama s National Economic Council, concluded as a young economist that financial and monetary shocks are less important sources of depression than we had suspected.

Russia has had centuries of influence in the Middle East and Central Asia, much of which used to be incorporated in the Russian and Soviet empires.

The White Moors are a light skinned Berber people who speak Arabic.

As I explain in my book The Price of Inequality, much of the rise in US economic inequality is attributable to a government in which the rich have disproportionate influence and use that influence to entrench themselves.

That means that countries must deliver on their commitment to increase IMF resources by more than 430 billion, and that the Fund s quota and governance structure must reflect the ongoing global shifts in economic influence.

Developments in these countries during the postcommunist years marked a gradual change from Russian to European influence, but that is not irreversible.

In June, during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, participants in two sessions Russian government and business leaders, as well as influential foreign players were asked about the future of Russia s economy.

Failure to deal effectively with these challenges will lower America s rate of economic growth, thereby blocking generational upward mobility and undercutting the basis of US global influence.

The party then hemorrhaged influential members, particularly in the north.

In Iraq, free elections have revealed the enormous influence of Islamist currents.

This confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire.

Asia s new clout holds tremendous promise.

Here India has been slow to join the struggle for influence.

As it stands, India and China are openly competing for influence in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Over time, enhanced influence will enable him to get more things done.

Overlapping spheres of influence and frozen conflicts could again cause major conflict.

That influence is bolstered by the electoral rules inherent bias in favor of powerful parties.

Parma was under French influence after the Peace of Aachen (1748).

Arab artistic influence in Sicily mirrors the Lombard influence in the Mezzogiorno.

With China s growing economic clout, rising standard of living, and increasingly respected place in the world, one would hope that the Chinese and their leaders would find a way to let go of the dead.

The purpose of influence is not to build your ego, or your net worth.

Japan recognized the link between political clout and science in the 1980 s.

They concern disputes over territory, political power, definitions of rights, and distribution of wealth.

But America s dwindling leverage cannot match the influence of the region s axis of evil.

America s influential Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also was established under Nixon.

China s current international influence likely outstrips its desire or capacity.

This money for influence model of governance indirectly impairs the IMF s capacity to criticize the economies of its most important members (let alone police compliance with their obligations).

But influence is not an end in itself it is a means to an end.