One of the things that the hard money crowd overlook is the dollar and oil. In fact, Russia and many other OPEC countries have often used oil as a political weapon. To a large extent, they became masters of the world behind the curtain. However, the USA began to wiggle free and is now possibly the largest oil and gas producer in the world. This has changed the game and those who think if the Saudis priced oil in something other than dollars it will have some catastrophic impact on the dollar, sorry, it may have a reverse effect on Saudi Arabia. Indeed, the game has changed This is in part why the Saudis are upset at not getting rid of Syria so they would have been able to get their pipeline to Europe and compete with Russia. The past is past and the strangle hold OPEC once had has diminished with respect to the dollar. The Euro countries are still dependent upon imports and thus the unfettered access to Europe has been the corridors of power in the struggle between Russia and the Saudis. The entire Syrian issue was hype and it demonstrated that terrorism is a tool more so than a real threat for it is supported and ignored when it benefits the reins of power.
