The White House said the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) had issued a call for proposals for the fund, which will provide financing of between 25 and 150 million dollars for selected projects and funds.
The Global Technology and Innovation Fund will "catalyze and facilitate private sector investments" throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the White House said in a statement.
Anyone who thinks this is solely a foreign policy outreach to give disillusioned Muslim youth an alternative to becoming suicide bombers is welcome to make me an offer on the bridge I own in Brooklyn. The real backstory is more complicated, and like an iceberg we can only see what's on the surface. Uncle Sam's creditors are beginning to flex their muscles. Sovereign wealth funds in Asia and the Middle East have probably begun to demand assurances from Uncle Sam that they won't be left out in the cold in the event he defaults on his sovereign debt. U.S. willingness to fund technology transfer is one such assurance, with the expectation that foreign creditors will continue to buy U.S. government debt (or least not sell their current debt holdings in a panic).
Civilization's center of gravity is gradually moving eastward.
