Pigeon's Progress struck me as a catchy title.

American politicians are now brand names, packaged like breakfast cereal. Anybody and any idea can be sold with a bright ribbon and a catchy jingle.

But catchy ideas die hard, and Russia has moved to cement the current concept of the BRICs into an irreversible reality. The ossification of the BRICs into a

The Herzog Livni alliance has tentatively named itself the Zionist Camp. It may not be catchy (and it is likely to be changed), but it expresses an essential truth Zionism is about the right of the Jewish people to self determination, not about the permanent domination of another people.

But catchy ideas die hard, and Russia has moved to cement the current concept of the BRICs into an irreversible reality. The ossification of the BRICs into ade facto global institution move forward dramatically in June, when the four countries leaders met (in Russia, of course) for the first BRIC Summit.

It began as a technical grouping in 2001, when the British economist Jim O Neill lumped them together (without South Africa) and gave them their catchy name for the sole reason that they were all large, rapidly growing emerging economies. But, recognizing that economic power could translate into political influence, the BRICS held their first informal meeting in 2006, and their first leaders summit in 2009.