It wasn’t that long ago that nuclear energy was a pariah, politically and environmentally.

But with climate change and and energy crisis headlining our political campaigns and agendas, nuclear energy just might be back on the table… And not only here in the U.S., either.

France’s GDF Suez (GSZ:Paris), newly-formed energy group, and Spain’s Iberdrola (IBE:Madrid) just announced that they will join forces to build nuclear plants in the United Kingdom… As have German companies RWE (RWE:Hamburg) and E.ON (EOA:Hamburg).

But friendly European countries teaming up to build nuclear power plants isn’t the only card in play. Nuclear energy is on the table in Russia, China, and Iran.

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I’d like to draw everyone’s attention to a recent article in Taipan Daily, our free daily newsletter.

One of the recent themes we’ve been talking about is if the U.S. dollar will have the strength to remain the world’s reserve currency. Our editorial director, Justice Litle, wrote specifically about this in an article called, “President Obama Can’t Save the Dollar.”

Our belief is that the U.S. dollar has been appreciating only because investors are fleeing to “safety” which creates a sudden demand for the dollar. There is no fundamental economical aspect to the greenback to suggest this appreciation will be sustatinable.

Just the opposite, in fact. With a mad-cap printing Federal Reserve chaired by spineless leader Ben Bernanke, the dollar is a phoenix… inches away from being crisped to ashes.

It doesn’t help that we’ve got a more than $680 billion debt burden to China alone, who today got a strongly-worded statement by new U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner.

But what happens if China doesn’t want to hold U.S. dollars any more, or calls up that $680 billion debt? I remember a couple years back when there was talk of China changing its dollars for gold. People brushed it off, and it hasn’t happened yet.

Yet… That’s a scary word. If you knew that the asset you were holding was going to be worthless in a year or two, would you keep holding it?

Only if somebody made it worth your while. I think this whole China situation bares watching, and closely. If we get a spike in oil prices that start to put inflationary pressure back into play, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear renewed talk of moving away from the dollar.

And it wouldn’t be just China calling for a change… Watch the Middle East, too.

I was surfing my regular news sites this morning, when I came across the following article on BBC News:

“Obama speech censored in China.”

Authorities didn’t like Obama’s references to communism and silent dissent, according to the article. And certain parts were omitted from Chinese translations, like the following:

In “Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions,” the word communism was removed for Chinese translations.

And “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history.” This sentence was deleted entirely.

It’s hard not to take offense to China deleting whole sections of our new president’s first speech. But it also serves as a blunt reminer…

As the world becomes an ever-flatter place, and emerging markets gain ground and find an equal spot at the table, it’s easy to forget that there are real differences in ideology in the world… And that those differences aren’t just limited to religious fanatics hunkered down on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan; or a lone group of political reformists on some secluded compound in Montana. They’re engrained in the policies of some of our biggest trading partners, and some of the biggest economies in the world.

China is the largest holder of U.S. debt in the world, with $681.9 billion by the end of November 2008. That’s an increase of 48.6% over November 2007’s debt.

In fact, our debt to all other countries jumped by 32.2% in that same timeframe. But our debt to oil exporters jumped 43.5%…

As President Obama takes office, will the world work through these differences? Or will they lead to an increase in strained relations? There is no doubt that we are dealing with fundamental differences in entire systems… It will take compromise without compromising on our values.

Is that even possible?

I welcome your comments, and also, since I’m not a fan of censorship, here’s a link to President Obama’s speech, and here’s a translator for our Chinese friends… Choose English to Chinese in the drop-down menu.

With banks dropping like flies here in the U.S., one must accept that this shake-up cannot be contained within U.S. borders.

Indeed, banks in Western Europe are already following U.S. institutions into the dark abyss, and now the European Union must decide if some “bailouts” will be allowed. For example, the EU is now reviewing its decision to allow a $7 billion bailout of German bank West LB.

And some regions are looking to preemptively bail out its banks.

Ireland has just announced that it will guarantee all deposits, bonds and debts for the country’s six largest banks for the next two years.

It’s a controversial decision that some say will give these Irish banks - with international branches - an edge over other banks. But it’s also in line with what the European Commission has been wanting… Well, sort of.

The EC wants banks to, in essence, hoard cash. Like a rainy day fund, just for times like these.

According to the Commission, banks should put away more cash in order to be able to cover its riskier investments.

Of course, that makes sense, but I don’t think a lot of banks will be able to pull that off in this type of environment. In fact, this may have a negative effect. If banks take more liquidity out of the markets, there will be less money to lend, and less revenue for the bottom line.

So should governments step in and foot the bill, or should the responsibility rest solely on the shoulders of the financial institutions?

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