What are we boycotting, now?

We have boycotted Cuba for fifty years, to our own disadvantages (prestige, economy, foreign policy). We did so with Libya, Iran, North Korea, and so many more, including the sales of airplanes' parts to Venezuela.
Now, we are boycotting International Banks whose clients (from Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Sudan, North Korea, Myanmar) have accounts in US funds. Most of those accounts are used to send money to relatives in their country of origin.

A few years ago, U.S. authorities fined ABN Amro $80-million (U.S.), partly because the Dutch bank violated U.S. sanction laws.

In Canada, Royal Bank has recently closed a few thousand US accounts. It seems that their clearing system is located in United States, contrary to the other five major Canadian banks.

We are also boycotting international airlines for not giving us the name of their passengers when they fly over us, even if they do not land here.

In our previous article, we have seen how Sheraton Hotel in Mexico, and Hilton International Hotel in Norway, have boycotted two different Cuban delegations.

We can expect negative consequences from our hysterical behaviour. More companies, more financial institutions, more investors will simply be using the Euro dollar. Last year, for the first time, international bond markets have seen more issues in Euro than in US dollars. You should not be surprised by OPEC switching to the Euro.

The value of our dollar has declined more than 30% in the last two years, another incentive for the international financial community to use the Euro as a more secure and liable currency (without mentioning our alarming two deficits -budget and trade).

Last Summer, our non-diplomat Secretary of State was proud to mention that Iran was getting more and more isolated. The way we see it, Iran is getting more and more friends in Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

Perhaps, we are the one who is getting more and more isolated. It is unfortunate that Ms Rice, while abroad, talks more to a certain American audience than to her hosts. Poor manners, poor diplomacy.

Is the New Congress doing anything to change the trend? Do the members of the 110th Congress know that New York is not anymore the financial market of the World?

Do they know that last year, Hong Kong and London Stock Exchanges have respectively issued $41 billion and $39 billion as Initial Public Offerings, versus $29 billion for New York Stock Exchange or $17 billion for NASDAQ? Wait, Shanghai, Moscow and Singapore will also be competing in a few years.

Oh! We forgot. We are busy in promoting democracy, and fighting to find words for not saying that we have lost in Iraq, the day we have invaded it.

It is more than time to stop boycotting everything, everyone. The stick approach does not work, and nobody is scared anymore, outside our borders. Who is listening to us, anyhow? We must learn again to compete for business, and create willing, lasting and beneficial relationships with strategic partners.

The Facilitator