It's always been about balance of power. Europe fears Russia. The Moslem world has nothing when they don't control oil. Russia thinks it can control Europe through a monopoly on oil supply. They are a paper tiger. But the very debt load that Reagan exploited , collapsing the "evil empire" now rests on our shoulders. We are the least worst option and the world owns our debt. But this is a game of Jenga. One bad decision and if we catch cold, the world catches pneumonia.