"His real goal is to change the rules of the global game - to prove that Russia is a respected superpower entitled to have its own spheres of influence and push through its interests… Crimea was annexed because it could be easily done".
These are diamonds, through its 85 per cent stake in the world's biggest producer, De Beers; platinum, through its major interests in South Africa and Zimbabwe; and copper, through its interests in two of the world's largest copper mines, based in Chile.
Not any more, it seems: now we are to be the servants of profit instead, the servants of the banking sector through its interests in private mail companies.
Treasury believed then, and believes now, that the material rights of a holder in the United States of an interest in a Treasury security should not vary solely by virtue of such holder's geographic location or the location of the financial institution through which it holds its interest in Treasury securities.
Yet this is far from the full story on a continent that has youth on its side, a cultural link to chemistry through its strong interest in plants and indigenous medicine, and an increasing number of ways forward.
For example, the News Corporation is a major supplier of television and film programs and channels to cable networks, but competes aggressively with cable through its controlling interest in DirecTV, the satellite broadcaster.
Vodafone now owns 20% of SFR directly and 12% through its minority interest in Cegetel, the French telco that controls 80% of SFR.
For some, the EU's external action can be perceived as a form of "soft imperialism" (Longo, 2011), since even without resorting to "hard power", the EU is able to impose its interest through its various platforms for dialogues and through the use of conditionality.
MetLife, one of the nation's largest insurers, declined to comment on its interest through a spokesman, but many observers expect the company to apply for federal money, not because it is teetering, but to build a war chest for acquisitions.
