March 18, 2024· 47 min

How the US Dollar Became an International Weapon of War

Saleha Mohsin

Orality

Model

65%

Oral-dominant (speeches, podcasts, storytelling)

Speaker Breakdown

HostJoe Weisenthal(1,533 words)

M:29%

HostTracy Alloway(1,738 words)

M:29%

GuestSaleha Mohsin(4,360 words)

M:29%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic25%

literally, completely, basically

Engagement53%

you, our, your

Memory Aids100%

listen, now, like

Repetition100%

like (105x), dollar (88x), it's (55x)

Parallelism78%

And I'm Tracy Alloway...., So you can go after people tha..., But there is also this tension...

Sound Patterns57%

48 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"

Formulaic Phrases2%

i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging7%

could, maybe, might

Passive Voice11%

was supposed, be dispersed, been involved

Abstract Nouns23%

investment, recommendation, consciousness

Subordination6%

while, since, because

Sentence Length47%

Avg: 16.7 words/sentence

Word Complexity48%

investment, analyze, anticipate

Academic Markers4%

according to

Impersonal Style47%

448 personal pronouns found

Descriptive Style70%

literally, completely, particularly

Description

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US took a number of extraordinary steps to cut Moscow out of the international financial system. The country immediately was hit with a slew of sanctions. It was cut off from the SWIFT payment system and it even had its dollar reserves seized. Prior to that, in 2021, the US took the rare step of seizing dollar reserves from Afghanistan's central bank after the Taliban's re-emergence to power. So how does the US control who gets to hold and transact in US dollars? Where did this power come from? What are the limits to the US policing of its own currency? On this episode of the podcast, we speak with Bloomberg Senior Reporter Saleha Mohsin, author of the new book, Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order. We discuss the buildup of this tremendous financial power and also what it means for the dollar's status as a reserve currency going forward. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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