On the heels of a G-20 summit that saw U.S. President Obama play peacemaker in several multi-national disputes, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev reignited talk yesterday of replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Medvedev's words echoed an argument initiated in March by a Chinese central bank official, and to varying degrees supported by world leaders from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Last fall, Global Pulse reported that China and Russia had agreed to construct a new oil pipeline connecting the two nations, and that the dollar would not be used in any financial transactions. At the time, we asked if Russia and China could be establishing a long-term alliance designed in part to isolate the influence of U.S. currency.