Russian and U.S. experts alike agree that SDI was decisive in stimulating reforms and arms reductions, ending the Cold War peacefully, and bringing Americans the trillion-dollar peace dividend which became the basis of our post-Cold War economic boom.

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But that short-lived experiment didn't work, and during World War II the dollar's tie to gold was reaffirmed by the Bretton Woods international monetary system.

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The currency war has been mostly fought between the dollar and euro.

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He has also written several books, including Globalization and Its Discontents, The Roaring Nineties, Towards a New Paradigm in Monetary Economics, Fair Trade For All, Making Globalization Work, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict and Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy.

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Turkey has been negotiating with America over a multi-billion-dollar package of aid and loans to cushion the economic impact of war.

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But in times of conflict investors normally rush to buy the dollar, seeing it as a safe haven, and a prolonged war could trigger a sharp reversal of its recent decline.

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Remittances, which make up 20% of GDP, have soared not only because the war prompted generosity but also because of solid banks that offer 7% interest on the dollar and property prices that have doubled or tripled in four years, and only now show signs of cooling.

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El Salvador wants to rid itself of its guerilla war reputation and glean a new image: fruit-filled jungles, coffee plantations, Pacific beaches and the multimillion dollar business of repairing Boeing-made jetliners.

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