Even China doesn't know how it will play its unaccustomed role as world power. As the US struggles with an ailing economy and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, China is an increasingly important stakeholder in regional and global affairs. This is the second in a four-part series examining how the world will manage a shift in power and influence from west to east.

As we approached the first anniversary of President Obama's inauguration, all eyes were set on health care reform and its ultimate fate in the Congress. In foreign affairs, the war in Afghanistan held center stage. Less attention had been paid to his policy toward Latin America. With a global financial crisis and two wars going on, there was no reason to think the Western Hemisphere would be a priority for the White House.

China's refusal to unleash the yuan's peg to the U.S. dollar is spurring other countries to enter currency markets as a way to boost their economies

Paul Krugman on why economists misread the financial crisis and the U.S. still needs more stimulus.