Morgan Stanley analyst Ehud Gelblum this morning slashed his EPS forecasts for Research In Motion, citing signs of sharp order cuts to Asian suppliers form the BlackBerry smartphone maker.

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Earlier this year it sent a veiled threat in the form of a letter to suppliers warning that it may "be hesitant" to do business with any that dare to sell goods directly to consumers online.

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The larger picture beyond easing the process to get more small business suppliers is to look at it as a new form of corporate social and public responsibility: encouraging the global ecosystem that enables growth, innovation and new opportunities.

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Its huge orders will allow a streamlined group of suppliers to reap economies of scale, which they can pass on in the form of lower prices.

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Perhaps not so coincidentally, at that time Wal-Mart was struggling to reclaim its image as all-American corporate after several years of beat downs in the form of reports of worker mistreatment and unreasonable cost squeezes on its suppliers.

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To my knowledge, until now, little attention has been paid to the extent to which financial pressure in the form of U.S. procurement decisions could be brought to bear on our adversaries by forcing such suppliers to choose between doing business with our Defense Department or with rogue states.

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