Like talented Gibo Teodoro or visionary Manny Villar of the Philippines in 2010, America's losing presidential candidate the brilliant Mitt Romney shouldn't totally retreat or fade away from public life....

Here's an article which also shares my views:

Mitt Romney’s Fast Fade After Losing the 2012 Presidential Race

by Lauren Ashburn Nov 8, 2012 4:45 AM EST (The Daily Beast)

The entourage is gone and the press corps has decamped. Lauren Ashburn on why Romney is ready to shun the spotlight—and why he shouldn’t.

Willard Mitt Romney stood on the verge of ultimate power as leader of the free world. Now, just moments later, he is about to vanish from the political stage. Perhaps forever.

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney waves to supporters during his election night rally, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Boston. (Mary Altaffer / AP Photo)

So what’s a guy to do when booted from the national spotlight without a job? Well, if you’re Romney, you don’t have to do a whole hell of a lot. His millions spare him from worrying about putting food on the table.

In six months, will he be relegated to a mere historical footnote?

Historian Douglas Brinkley, author of the bestselling book Cronkite, argues that life in politics is over for the man who could have been president. “There is no such thing as a Romney Republican,” Brinkley says. The former Massachusetts governor’s move to the center and his flip-flopping on such issues as abortion, health care, and tax cuts during the campaign left many wondering just exactly what he stands for. “He’s not going to be beloved by the conservative movement. Not when you lose when unemployment is 7.9 percent.”

The obvious place for Romney to hang his hat, says Brinkley, is back in the world of business, where the Republican made a fortune as an aggressive dealmaker at Bain Capital. “The only thing he seems proficient at is making himself money,” he says.

The former governor never seemed like a natural politician and may welcome the chance to retreat to the shadows. In his brief concession speech, he did not offer the usual bromides about fighting for his principles or staying involved in the political debate. He has spent the last six years running for president, only to have his hopes crushed just when he and his team were convinced he might win.

Watch Mitt Romney deliver the concession speech he said he wouldn't prepare.

“What gets you there is the kind of slobbering attention that is hard to turn off,” says Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. “For two-plus years, to be in the center of an international feast of attention … I think there would be real withdrawal.”

Chris Lehane, a longtime Democratic strategist and top spokesman for Al Gore’s presidential campaign, calls this the “cricket dynamic.” “Everyone in the world is kissing the ring and essentially bowing down,” he says. When the billion-dollar business of running for president disappears virtually overnight, “suddenly the only ones around are the crickets.”

The loss of the Secret Service detail, the plane, the entourage, all add up to a big letdown. The candidate, says Lehane, is left thinking: “Where are the people who were my best friends just hours ago?” Romney no longer exerts an appeal on people who were seeking influence in his administration or perhaps land a plum ambassador’s job.

In his brief concession speech, Romney did not offer the usual bromides about fighting for his principles or staying involved in the political debate.

“It’s like a sports gig,” says Thompson. “After it’s over, we forget about the team that lost.”

Not to mention that the press corps was voracious until Tuesday about details of his family, his Mormonism, and his potential Cabinet appointees. But interest fades quickly in someone who most likely won’t be a future political player.

What’s more, Romney’s refusal to grant many interviews during the final weeks of his campaign strained relations with the fourth estate. “The media developed a low-simmering disdain for him,” says Brinkley.

Given the size of his bank account, Romney could start a foundation or launch a crusade if he wants to reclaim part of the spotlight. But doing so would require a thirst for issue advocacy that he has never displayed.

When Gore won the popular vote and lost the presidency, he delved into his passions for climate change and technology, ultimately winning a Nobel Prize. Former presidential candidates John Kerry and John McCain still their had jobs as senators to serve as platforms.

Many politicians who had taken a shellacking would retreat to their home base and start rebuilding a career. But Romney lost Massachusetts in a landslide, garnering only 38 percent of the vote. Of course, if he wants to return to his religious roots, there’s always Utah.

But by simply withdrawing from the public square, as George W. Bush has done, Romney would be squandering a prime opportunity. He could use his household-name status, personal wealth, and political experience to make a mark in any realm he chooses.

A man who sold himself to voters as an American success story owes the public more than a wave goodbye.

USA role in the World in this 21st Century, American views & My Personal Assessments

My Comments:

I believe it's wrong for not a few Western pundits to say that the United States of America (U.S.A.) will no longer be important in the world of this 21st century.

The U.S. still has a key role to play as global peacekkeper (in contrast to its old role seemingly as global "policeman"), as a catalyst of global economic growth and entrepreneurial creativity (the free enterprise system is still alive in America, somehow, but needs to be rekindled), and as a superpower (but no longer the only world superpower like before).

The Washington Post - February 25, 2010

Assessing the U.S. role in a 21st-century world

Americans broadly expect the country to have less influence in both world affairs and the world's economy in the 21st century, and they have a mixed take on what that shift could mean for the nation. Many say the century is likely to belong to China, though sizable numbers say it may yet turn out to be an "American Century."

 

Foreign direct investments plunge 83% in August

My Comments?

We in the Philippines need to urgently reform our anti-investor and quite xenophobic constitution, especially its antiquated economic provisions.

Marketing efforts and political reforms are not enough, we need to boldly push progressive and globally-competitive structural reforms in the Philippine economy to catch up with our Asean and Asian neighbors.

Wake up, our Philippine politicians and leaders! Even our historic strategic ally and former colonizer USA is pouring more foreign direct investments to their former war enemy and still officially Communist Vietnam than here to us in the most pro-American nation of the Philippines!

Here's the latest news report from Rappler.com:

(Photo of skyline of Makati financial center, Metro Manila, the Philippines)

by Rappler.com Posted on 11/12/2012 7:06 PM  | Updated 11/12/2012 7:06 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The global economic slowdown has dampened August foreign direct investments, an indicator of investor confidence and traditional sources of jobs.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that the net inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) plunged 83% to $13 million in August from from $76 million a year ago.

"This reflected investors’ relatively cautious stance due to weak global economic prospects and financial strains in the advanced economies," the BSP said in a statement on Monday, November 12.

Key sources of FDI in August were the United States, Australia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Japan and Bermuda.

This brought the cumulative FDI in the first 9 months of 2012 to $1.038 billion, 61% higher than $644 million a year ago.

FDI, hot money that go to the capital markets, and remittances from Filipinos working abroad have kept the Philippines' balance of payments in surplus. - Rappler.com

Can the Philippines be a pivot state, instead of a shadow state, with a truly independent foreign policy?

Here's a thought-provoking essay by American scholar, strategic & global political risk analyst, Stanford-educated Columbia University professor, Eurasia Group (a top global political risk analyst & consulting firm) President  Dr. Ian Bremmer in the Harvard Business Review:

Which Countries Will Rise to the Top in a Leaderless World?

by Ian Bremmer  |  11:21 AM May 30, 2012 Harvard Business Review

Over the years, the phrase "emerging market" has become all but meaningless. No group that includes China, Argentina, Kenya, the Philippines, and Romania can possibly qualify as a single coherent class.



To pick the likeliest winners in this vast category, Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs has given us the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and now South Africa), the "Next 11" (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey, South Korea, and Vietnam) and, more recently, MIST (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey). Robert Ward of the Economist Intelligence Unit has added the CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa.)

(Photo below: Jim O"Neill of Goldman Sachs coined "BRICS")



But all these constructions include a dizzyingly diverse set of economies that don't have much in common, and in any case the market conditions inside these countries tell only part of the story. In order to understand which nations are likeliest to emerge, we also need to look at changes underway across the global landscape.

We live in a crisis-prone age. In the past 44 months, we've endured the dips and gyrations of an international financial crisis, the worst economic slowdown since the 1930s, a wave of turmoil across North Africa and the Middle East, and Europe's worst crisis of confidence since the Second World War. Unfortunately, we can't expect smoother sailing in years to come because, for the first time in seven decades, we now live in a world without global leadership.






In the United States, a war-weary public is focused on jobs and debt, and taxpayers tell pollsters that America should focus on problems at home and mind its own business. Across the Atlantic, Europeans' fears for their economic future diminish their interest in the world beyond the region. America and Europe have overcome adversity before and are well equipped over the long run to do it again, but that won't happen this year or next.



Nor are China or other emerging powers ready to fill the leadership vacuum. Each of them faces too many complex development challenges at home to accept more costs and risks abroad.

So we've entered a period of transition. The old order, call it a U.S.-led G7 world, no longer reflects the true international balance of power. But there is not yet a new order to take its place. That's why global markets are in for an extended (and tumultuous) period of transition, one that's especially vulnerable to crises that appear suddenly and from unexpected directions. It's a G-Zero world.

Investors and business decision makers must understand this problem if they are to spot the era's winners, losers, opportunities, and risks.

The countries that are best positioned to prosper are those that are resilient as well as strong. Over the past 30 years, the winners were those states that adapted to profit from Western-led globalization. But in a world where no country is willing and able to play the consistent global leader, governments have to create more of their own opportunities. Bet on states that have good options.

That's why pivot states, those able to build profitable relationships with multiple partners without becoming overly reliant on any of them, are the likeliest winners in the G-Zero era.

Brazil will continue to enjoy excellent trade ties with the United States. But China is now its largest trade partner, helping Brazil's economy ride out the U.S. slowdown with minimal damage. NATO membership gives Turkey lasting influence in Brussels and Washington, and many in the Arab world look to Turkey as a dynamic, modern Muslim state. Add its position at the crossroads of Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union, and Turkey has a range of political and commercial options. As in Brazil, this advantage helps absorb the sorts of shocks that are now all too commonplace.







Asia is home to several pivot states. Indonesia, with nearly 240 million people, enjoys a well-diversified economy with trade ties balanced among China, the United States, Japan, and Singapore. Vietnam receives most of its aid from Japan, its arms from Russia, and its tourists from China; its biggest export market is the United States.









Not all pivot states are developing countries. Far-sighted policy ensures that Canada is now less vulnerable to a slowdown in the United States. The percentage of Canada's exports to countries other than the U.S. jumped from 18% in 2005 to more than 25% just four years later, and Canada now draws nearly 40% of its imports from countries other than the United States. British Columbia exports more to Asia than to the U.S.




The likeliest losers in this more volatile world are shadow states, the opposite of pivots, those whose political and commercial possibilities are determined almost entirely by a single powerful partner. Mexico's largest sources of foreign currency are oil sales, tourism, and remittances from nationals working abroad. In all three cases, the vast majority of that currency comes from the United States, and there's no evidence that will change anytime soon. The fates of its economy and standard of living are linked tightly with the health of its giant neighbor.

Shadow states aren't like Cold War-era satellites, countries where government was thoroughly dominated by a foreign power. Mexico's domestic- and foreign-policy choices are determined by its political process, not the demands of a domineering sponsor. But when compared with Canada, Mexico's commercial opportunities and the speed of its development are largely defined by conditions inside one foreign country.



Ukraine, another shadow state, wants to escape Russia's gravitational pull and become a pivot state, preserving relations with Moscow while building new ties with Europe. In fact, Kyiv wants to ink a free-trade deal with the European Union. But Russia has threatened to sharply increase the price of natural gas shipments to Ukraine and throw up new trade barriers if Kyiv moves forward with Europe. The EU, for its part, will end trade talks with Ukraine if it joins a customs union with Russia. Ukraine can't win because it can't pivot. It lacks the strength and independence to improve its bargaining position with either side.






In years to come, the BRICS will go their separate ways, and half the N11 is as likely to implode as to expand. Instead, it's the G-Zero order that will determine the next generation of winners and losers, and resilient pivot states are the countries best positioned to prosper.

Ian Bremmer

Ian Bremmer is the president of Eurasia Group and author of Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World.

China 'to be world's biggest economy by 2025'

My Comments:

This is a newsd article by the British newspaper Telegraph. Interesting and thought-provoking.
Western media and scholars keep preducting China's reclaiming its ancient position as No. 1 economy.
If true, this phenomenon is an inspiration for all Asia and for all developing nations.

Here's the report below:

China is set to become the world's largest economy by 2025, a report claimed on Monday, while figures showed that the country's services sector slipped in October.

China's services industry, which covers everything from banks, restaurants to internet firms, has weathered the global slowdown much better than the factory sector. 

 

By Telegraph Staff, and agencies

11:13AM GMT 05 Nov 2012

Research by Frost & Sullivan suggested that China is set to become the largest economy in the world by 2025 with a nominal gross domestic product - which is GDP that has not been adjusted for inflation - value of $38 trillion.

Frost & Sullivan identified 10 trends that will accelerate China's economic growth to around 16pc by 2020. These included urbanisation, a larger working age population and investment in broadband.

"By 2025, an estimated 921m people or 65.4pc of China's population, will live in cities, which is about 2.6 times of the United States' total population", says Archana Amarnath at Frost & Sullivan.

She added that the growth in Chinese mega cities will supplement Asia's growing role as the world's financial centre.

The report came as a private survey of China's growing services sector slipped in October, with weaker-than-expected new orders injecting a note of caution after three previous PMI surveys for October showed the world's second largest economy regaining momentum.

Why Filipinos should know their real history My Comments: William "Billy" Esposo is one of the Philippines' most candid, fearless and sensible political columnists. He is a highly-respected columnist of the Philippine Star. I'm sharing Esposo's thought-provoking column today. What are your opinions about his views? Here is his column, read, share to others and hopefully you can post your comments or email me? AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo The Philippine Star 2012-11-11

When we were marking the 40th anniversary of the declaration of martial law last September 21, there were many who expressed their concern that Filipinos – most of them born after martial law had ended – do not know what the country underwent during the Marcos dictatorship. The sight of Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. repeating his mantra that lives were better during the dictatorship heightened those apprehensions.



Indeed, Filipinos are not as updated on their country’s real history, in contrast to their being updated on the latest showbiz scandal in town. Media are partly to blame but the cause of our historical amnesia is not just confined to what media are not telling our people. We cannot fully blame media for not disseminating what we have not really written yet.

Nobody has yet figured out how to teach our real history to our people. The most basic task is, of course, to write the real history and burn all the books that have injected self-serving fiction to favor certain interests. It would be myopic to simply focus on the martial law era. A people will be forever handicapped when their history books are only partially factual with other sections nothing more than pulp fiction.

The problem with our historical narration is that it does not draw Filipino empathy. Filipinos do not relate to what’s presently offered as our nation’s history. Indeed, it’s hard to relate to something that’s partly fact and partly fiction. The human soul naturally gravitates to the truth.

In the case of martial law, we cannot expect our people to internalize historical episodes that aren’t fully disclosed. It’s like watching a movie without an ending to tie up the whole plot as it unraveled. To one who knows the real history of our country, martial law was not as simple as Ferdinand E. Marcos wanting to stay in power longer. The true picture is lacking the disclosure of the bigger force that wanted martial law imposed here – the US.



Marcos couldn’t have imposed martial law if the US didn’t want it. It precisely lasted that long because the US felt that dictatorship was the antidote to the communist threat here and abroad. Marcos merely rode on the US Cold War agenda because it suited his desires perfectly. In the end, just as the communist threat had waned with the end of the Indo-China wars and the Russians being stuck in the Afghanistan quagmire, the US played a key role in ousting Marcos. First, they pressured him to call a Snap Presidential Election and second – they told him to cut clean.

(Photos below: Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos and First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos with USA President Lyndon B. Johnson and USA President Richard Nixon)





Unless Filipinos are taught the underlying forces, be it geopolitical, national or local politics, and economic shifts and so forth, that trigger major national events – they’ll never attain a grasp of real Philippine history. It’s like watching the story of Jesus, except that this one starts when he was already 30 years old. If you didn’t know the origins of Jesus, you’ll be left asking – who’s Jesus, where did Jesus come from?

Marcos shouldn’t escape the condemnation of future Filipino generations but our people must also know that Marcos was not the main player here.

Because our people have not been allowed to know their real history in its full context, we thus become continually vulnerable to further foreign manipulation and exploitation. Because we do not know the real US role in the imposition of martial law here, most of our people are still cheering the US as it seeks to find participation in the energy explorations in the South China Sea. We do not realize that we are cheering the US in their attempt to make our country the frontline of a US-China conflict.

Because nobody is talking about the looming Peak Oil Crisis – that point when supply can no longer service the demand – Filipinos fail to appreciate why the US invaded Iraq when Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack in New York City. It was all about the looming shortage of oil supply. Iraq has the world’s fourth largest oil reserves. Why is the US so hot in now targeting Iran? Iran has just as much oil as Iraq. Are you surprised that the US has been very active in the issues among territorial claimants in the South China Sea?



Some experts are saying that the Peak Oil Crisis might start as early as 2015. In February 10, 2010, British businessmen petitioned their government to plan for the Peak Oil Crisis (Link: http://peakoiltaskforce.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/final-report-uk-itpoes_report_the-oil-crunch_feb20101.pdf). They outlined the need to formulate new policies, form packages of legislation, new technologies and behavior change incentives in order to cope with the oil reality.

Charles T. Maxwell, recognized as the Dean Of Energy Analysts, predicted that by 2020 oil would cost $300 per barrel. Maxwell described the projected rise of oil prices: “Then it goes to $95 in 2012 and $115 in 2013. The following year, 2014, we see the price going to $140 a barrel, followed by $180 in 2015. And then, by 2020, it’s at $300, or roughly $225 discounted back to the present.”

“By 2020, I’m looking for about $300 a barrel, which is closer to $225 a barrel in today’s dollars.”

(Photo of Charles T. Maxwell)



In the UK where they have oil and oil interests in many other parts of the world, they’re already planning for the doomsday scenario. Don’t you think that we, without oil interests like the UK, should be planning at a double pace?

With big challenges ahead of us, Filipinos cannot be expected to rise to the demands of the situation if they don’t know their real history and cannot contextualize themselves in their real history.

World War II: American, Filipino Veterans to be Honored in Manila American Cemetery in Taguig City (near The Fort) on November 11, 2012 (Sunday) exactly 11 A.M... Public is invited.

  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.                                                    ---Bible, Matthew 5: 9

There never was a good war, or a bad peace. --- Benjamin Franklin

Peace is the only battle worth waging. --- Albert Camus

U.S. Ambassador to Manila Harry K. Thomas, Jr. will lead the American community and guests in honoring the sacrifices of American and Filipino veterans during World War II against Japanese military invaders at the annual Veterans’ Day ceremony to be held at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City, Metro Manila, on Sunday, November 11. This place is near booming The Fort.

 

Veterans of both nations---the Philippines and USA---and representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Manila and the Philippine Government including UnderSecretary Edilberto P. Adan, the Executive Director of the Presidential Commission on the visiting Forces Agreement, will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony.

 

Hopefully, we people of the 21st century will courageously fight for world peace.

 

 

 

        

 

As in past years, the Veteran’s Day ceremony will begin promptly in the Manila American Cemetery at 11 a.m., which is the time that major hostilities of World War I formally ended with the signing of the Armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Hopefully, the world will not forget the unspeakable horrors and anguish of war, so that we can dedicate ourselves to the cause of world peace.

 

This event is open to the public and to the mass media.