From Desmond Lachman, the Wall Street Journal:  A European failure to contain its debt crisis would be a monumental electoral setback for Mr. Obama.

From Chris Buckley, Reuters:  China's top official newspaper warned Western powers to let the United Nations lead post-war reconstruction in Libya, saying on Thursday that Beijing would seek to defend its economic stake after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

I have come down from the mountains for the twelfth time, with my head still aching not from excessive partying but from information overload at the World Economic Forum. Imagine being invited to an all you can eat buffet, with the most delectable foods laid before you, but with an unrealistic ten minute time limit imposed on your attendance at the party.

Chinese President Hu Jintao opted not to sit idly in Beijing and watch President Obama circle the Middle Kingdom in his ‘post-shellacking’ tour of Asia. Hu showed that two could enhance the influence of their countries far from home. While both leaders are strengthening long-term ties through their visits, the victor of the flurry of G-2 diplomacy may become apparent as soon as the November 11-12 G-20 summit in Seoul when the U.S. and China clash over the imbalances in the global economy.

From Antoaneta Becker, the Asia Times:  China's increasing financial involvement in debt-ridden European nations has divided observers, inviting comparisons on one side to a Chinese Marshall Plan for Europe, and to a Chinese communist takeover of the continent on the other.

From AFP:  Canada and the European Union will meet their target to sign an "ambitious" free trade agreement in 2011, Canadian International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan said Thursday in Bucharest.

From Judy Dempsey, the New York Times:  While the Moscow-Berlin political relationship gets a lot of attention, German companies have come to realize that the money to be made in Russia is overshadowed by the prospects even farther afield in China.

From Landon Thomas Jr., the New York Times:  For many in aging and debt-weary Europe, which will be lucky to eke out a little more than 1 percent growth this year, Turkey’s economic renaissance — last week it reported a stunning 11.4 percent expansion for the first quarter, second only to China — poses a completely new question: who needs the other one more — Europe or Turkey?