Uncle Sam Just Used Its Financial Nuclear Weapon Again

In August of 1945, the United States became the only country to drop nuclear bombs on an enemy.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were largely destroyed in the blink of an eye. And the Japanese had no choice but to surrender to the Allies, finally ending World War II.

Ever since, world superpowers have been rapidly advancing weapons technology, constantly raising the bar for destructive power.

It won’t surprise you to find out that the most powerful and destructive weapon in the world, though, by far, is claimed by the United States.

But this weapon has nothing to do with America’s nuclear arsenal. It doesn’t even require bullets.

I’m talking about the US dollar.

The US is still the world’s dominant superpower, still the largest economy in the world. And the US dollar is still the world’s dominant reserve currency.

This means that the VAST MAJORITY of international trade and cross-border financial transactions take place in US dollars.

When Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company sells petroleum to the Chinese, that transaction takes place in US dollars.

Last year when Air France (a European airline) agreed to purchase 60 jets from Airbus (a European aircraft manufacturer), that contract was negotiated in US dollars– even though both parties are European!

When commodities traders buy and sell cotton futures on the national mercantile exchange… in PAKISTAN… those trades are settled in US dollars.

When the IMF stepped in to bail out Argentina back in 2018 with an emergency loan, those funds were paid in US dollars.

And right now as I write these words, the Chile-based agriculture business I founded several years is selling literally millions of pounds of blueberries to wholesale buyers in Europe and Asia. Those deals are also closed in US dollars.

You get the idea. The US dollar is at the center of global commerce. Commercial banks, central banks, governments, sovereign wealth funds, and businesses around the world all need US dollars if they expect to be able to do any business internationally.

And that’s what makes the dollar such a powerful weapon: the US government can threaten foreign countries with nearly total financial collapse.

The US government realized it had this power roughly two decades ago after the September 11th attacks.

David Adams

Article URL : https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uncle-sam-just-used-its-financial-nuclear-weapon-again?