Dollar War Roundup 3/27/23
In a sense the American war on Russia—intended to preserve the American “Rules-Based Order” by extending it—is about dollar dominance. Without dollar dominance there can be no US military dominance. Further, the point about extending the Rules Based Order is a key concept. Since world geopolitics is not a zero sum game, a game with a finite set of marbles in play, for the American Empire to retain its dominance it must always be expanding the reach of its Rules Based Order. In other words, the American Empire is, by its nature, expansionary. Let’s look at this from the standpoint of the war on the dollar, which threatens to undercut the entire imperial model of America’s Rules Based Order.
Larry Johnson provides a good starting point this morning:
Johnson provides a succinct summary of US geopolitical strategy drawn from a Rand Corp. document. The basic concept outlined in the two quoted paragraphs are straightforward. America has established a network or alliances of subordinate vassal states and international organizations of various sorts that are also subordinate to American interests—while excluding nations and entities that are not subordinate to American interests. America, sidestepping international law norms, has defined its network as The International Rules Based Order. In other words, the international order is defined by American interests which, by their nature, are subject to development in the service of American hegemony and American “values”. Thus, the international order now espouses the Imperial American value of aggressively spreading sexual perversions and the denial of the fundamental male - female duality of human nature. Rand makes it explicitly clear that the expansionary nature of America’s Imperial order rests ultimately on “hard power”—all are welcome to submit voluntarily, but involuntary military measures will ultimately be employed against the recalcitrant. If that reminds you of, say, the Muslim ideology of conquest or that of Genghiz Khan, that isn’t actually coincidental.
Here’s the Rand account, which you can compare to what I just wrote:
Since 1945, the United States has pursued its global interests by building and maintaining various alliances, economic institutions, security organizations, political and liberal norms, and other tools — often collectively referred to as the international order. ...
Building an international order has been a formal program of U.S. foreign policy since at least the 1940s and an aspirational goal since the nation’s founding. According to its post–World War II architects, the international order protects U.S. values by maintaining an environment in which the ideals of a free and democratic society — like that of the United States — can flourish. The United States has used both power and idealistic notions of shared interests to underwrite the rules-based order. In this sense, it employed both hard and soft power to construct the order.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1598.html
As you can see, the “international rules based order” is simply a euphemism for the American Imperial Order’s global ambitions. The rules themselves are not derived from those of the American people, but from the American Empire’s functionaries—the imperial ruling class that we’ve lately become so aware of.
But again. All of this is based on dollar dominance, and dollar dominance is ultimately based on King Dollar maintaining its status as the sole form of payment for the dominant form of world energy—oil and gas. The equation is simplicity itself: No dollars = no energy = no economic activity. If the American Empire enforces dollar based sanctions on a country, that country’s economy can be shut down for practical purposes. The American Empire has not been shy about inflicting such draconian sanctions on recalcitrant subordinate societies, no matter the human hardships. Nor has the American Empire been shy about also resorting to “hard power”, no matter the human hardships. One thinks of Madeline Albright’s testimony that half a million dead Iraqi children was an acceptable price—was “worth it”—for the geopolitical gain that accrued to the Imperial Project.
Now, of course there has always been a gigantic exception to all the above. Russia has never accepted subordination to the American Empire and Russia has always been self sufficient in terms of energy and resources. Iran, too, forms an exception to the above. What has changed in recent decades, especially since the rise of Vladimir Putin in 2000, has been the leverage that Russian energy resources have gained in the world market. Russian pipeline gas is cheap and abundant, and easily supplied to energy hungry EU. Russia has always proven open to flexible terms of payment. All of this undercuts Imperial American dominance over the EU. Further, Russia has found vast new markets for its energy resources in the growing economies of Eurasia—including China and India. This development has undercut American Imperial attempts to bring those two enormous economies into linkage, and thus subordination, with the American Empire. At the same time, Saudi Arabia has been chafing at American demands for continuing subordination when the Saudis can clearly see their future economic benefit lying in closer integration with the Eurasian bloc of nations: Russia, China, and India. Standing in the way of Saudi integration has been its running conflict with Iran.
All of this has been discussed—most recently yesterday—several times in the context of Eurasian integration. However, within the past few days, following the China led rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, there was an additional development that plays into two frank discussions—one on CNN and one on Fox—that express trepidation for the future of King Dollar as the world’s sole reserve currency, and thus trepidation for American Imperial dominance. In particular, the talk coming from Saudi Arabia to the effect that the Saudi’s may accept payment in the Chinese Yuan has sounded alarm bells in the West. The fall of King Dollar would spell the effective end of the American Empire as a true global hegemon—the US would simply no longer be able to afford its current military profile. However, it would also lead to economic chaos back home in the USA.
With that in mind, here’s a reprise of the development we noted yesterday:
Permit me to unpack that just a bit. The references to gold? The major Eurasian countries are also the major world holders of gold—Russia, China, India, and others. They are openly discussing a payments arrangement that would be gold based. And that Saudi refinery-in-China deal? That sure looks like a precursor to formally accepting payment in yuan. TL seemed to get it, and here’s the tweet I cited yesterday, suggesting that the refinery project is very much a threat to dollar dominance:
On to CNN and Fareed Zakaria:
And Fox, with Monica Crowley. Ignore the Neoconnish Crowley’s references to “America’s Enemies”. Concentrate on the forecast of Weimar style inflation resulting from … the Saudis announcing that they’ll take payment in yuan. No, I can’t say that that’s exactly true, but the consequences will be very unpleasant:
One catches a whiff of panic in the air. A note of hysteria, doubt whether our Neocon masters actually have a clue. We already knew they didn’t have the welfare of ordinary Americans at heart, but do they have any clue of any sort at all?
Finally, an example of what Rand Corp. meant when it maintained that
the international order protects U.S. values by maintaining an environment in which the ideals of a free and democratic society — like that of the United States — can flourish.
In fact, US “values”—as news story after news story informs us every day—protect and enable male degenerates who oppress normals. How long will normals put up with this? Dollar dominance over the years has had the strong tendency to keep the American population in a state of moral somnolence:
The saddest part of these American values is that this girl was unable to even speak using normal human expressions. Instead she felt compelled to speak in the only terms recognized in our public discourse—”rights talk”, which is morally empty and recognizes none of the fundamental realities of human nature. The reality is that, using the ideology of “rights”, the enemies of human nature have been able to privilege degenerate males over all others in our society, while normals in American society are left struggling to find the words to express their moral disgust. This is the effect that the American Empire’s ruling elite has on normal human beings, at home and around the world.
Andrea Widburg today:
"Transgenderism is a leftist-induced mental illness that is intended to achieve two very specific ends that will empower statism: First, it destroys the family. This is overtly achieved by the groomers in and outside of schools who tell children that “we’re your family,” and more covertly achieved by making these mentally damaged people physically and emotionally incapable of having children. Second, it makes these same people utterly dependent on the government to pay for the lifelong medical costs associated with hormones and surgery."
Enabled by dollar dominance.
I am not struggling to find the words to express my moral disgust. The effect that the American Empire’s ruling elite has on normal human beings, at home and around the world, is total indiffernce. Those of us who do not live in Wonderland or 'Through the Looking Glass' are not impressed with the genius of these Humpty Dumpties. They run the world? Not my world. That is the role of the Creator.
True, they have the power to make difficulties and create roadblocks for us, that too by the will of the Creator, but I doubt they can transform normal human instincts, and normal people who have a conscience will continue to live a moral life.