Why is Ukraine so important to Washington — and, by extension, NATO, and the EU? What do they expect to accomplish? Understanding the process by which Washington draws its true power makes its actions against Russia more understandable.
Let’s set aside all of Washington’s rhetoric about human rights, democracy, and sovereignty since these are only pretexts that it employs to accomplish its goals. What exactly does Washington desire?
To restrain Russia, it seeks to confuse and aggravate the Ukraine crisis. Why is it attempting to restrain Russia? Washington’s worldwide dominance is derived from its ownership of the US dollar, widely known as the world’s reserve currency. This unique position allows Washington to run massive deficits that do not represent the country’s genuine productive capabilities.
Since its replacement of sterling in the 1920s, the US dollar has dominated worldwide commerce as the leading currency. American Dollars are used to price and pay for commodities such as oil, gold, base metals, and agricultural goods. This resulted in robust demand for US Treasuries and increased global demand for the greenback. All of this allows the US government to create billions of dollars, borrow without limit, and spend without restraint.
The dollar’s supremacy has given America immense worldwide influence, but it is now under assault like never before as Russia, China, and others confront the US economically. Many people are now looking to reduce their reliance on the dollar since Washington has abused its position as the world’s reserve currency issuer for decades.
Russia and China, in particular, have reduced their reliance on the currency. Around 90% of their bilateral dealings were handled in dollars in 2015. However, since the commencement of the trade war between the US and China, that number has dropped to 46% and is fast dropping. Even US friends and partners like Turkey and India have started dealing in their own currencies when it suits them. Putin has put Europe to ransom regarding oil and gas unless they pay in Rubles. Countries are wondering why US financial institutions should act as international banking middlemen.
Just before Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, has told The Nikkei Asian Review that the Russia-China “de-dollarisation” was approaching a “breakthrough moment” that could elevate their relationship to a de-facto alliance.
This alliance, and its danger to the dollar’s dominance, concern Washington greatly. “The current dollar-centric system cannot last forever,” argues Barry Eichengreen, University of California, Berkeley Professor of Economics and Political Science. “A multipolar international monetary and financial system is on the way, as the United States’ share of the global economy declines.”
According to Goldman Sachs analysts, there are now “real concerns about the US dollar’s longevity as a reserve currency,” and billionaire US fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller has warned that the dollar might lose its dominance as the world’s reserve currency within 15 years.
Ironically, America’s growing use of severe sanctions against countries it doesn’t like, such as China and Russia, has fuelled this trend, as countries seek new ways of financing trade without Washington having the ability to seize their money. “The U.S., by continuously using sanctions, is beginning to cut off its nose to spite its face,” Anuradha Chenoy, formerly the dean of Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies in New Delhi, has said.
Any country that refuses to follow Washington’s orders to play the dollar game will be greeted with a coup, a false flag, or military action. Washington understands that when additional dollars stored in overseas reserves become obsolete, they will return to the US, exacerbating inflationary pressures. This is, for example, why Washington is so opposed to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline: the price mechanism will be determined by the Russians and Germans jointly, not by Washington. The Russia/Ukraine conflict has thrown a spanner into this pipeline.
Nations throughout the globe should have the sovereign freedom to select whatever currency they trade-in rather than being compelled to use the US dollar at the point of a gun.
This is the real reason Washington wanted Russian forces in Ukraine. Washington must attempt, by any means possible, to contain Russia and then try to force her into subjugation, i.e., full and total acceptance of US dollar hegemony upon her.
However, the existing dollar-based monetary system is running out of gas after decades of misuse. Interest rates have been artificially manipulated to zero, western central banks are rapidly monetizing debt via quantitative easing, and consumer prices are increasing as a result of the monetary base being inflated.
Washington will do everything it takes to maintain the dollar’s dominance, including using Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder in its attempts to provoke Russia and impose dollar hegemony on her. By portraying Putin as a belligerent aggressor and warmonger, Washington has further isolated Russia from the West.
Up until its invasion, Ukraine as an energy transit country was faced with a dilemma: either stick with the US dollar hegemony and face the demise of its transit role or undermine America’s geopolitical designs on Ukraine and survive as a viable European and Eurasian energy partner.
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