PRIORITIES….Pakistan’s economy is about to implode and they’re looking for help:
President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a four-day state visit as concern has surged over a possible debt default by Pakistan that could cripple its economy and spark more civil unrest. While the amount of money Pakistan needs in the short term is relatively small — $4 billion to $6 billion — analysts say the climate of crisis and public anger over domestic bailouts in the United States and Western Europe have made even a modest infusion from its Western allies politically difficult.
….The Bush administration and Congress have been shaping a long-term economic and military assistance package for Pakistan, but there is no indication the United States is able to step in with a short-term financial lifeline.
Pakistan is going to the Chinese now “because you go to the guys with the money,” a senior International Monetary Fund official said. “And right now, the Chinese are the ones with the money.”
By itself, this isn’t a big deal. Pakistan has long been friendly with China, so there’s no reason they shouldn’t ask them for assistance.
Still, this is the kind of thing that’s a canary in the coal mine. Global power generally flows to “the ones with the money,” and to the extent that this is China, not the United States, our influence in the world inevitably wanes. In other words, it’s not just a platitude to say that getting our economic shop in order really is at least as important as the fact that we can project military power into places like Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, considering how well that projection has gone lately, it’s probably more important — and that means that it’s time to get our priorities in order. This is decidedly not the right way to do it.
UPDATE: Dan Drezner says, “this is a very small canary.” I agree.
