The Dollar Kill-Switch: Edward Fishman on How The U.S. Controls The Global Economy

Can a country wage war without ever firing a bullet? In this episode of Bankless, we uncover the surprising truth: America’s most powerful weapon isn’t its military - it’s the dollar. Joining us is Edward Fishman, a former State Department official and the author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. He explains how U.S. sanctions work, why they’re so effective, and what happens when countries try to escape them. From Iran and Russia to the rise of stablecoins and China’s digital yuan, we dive deep into the geopolitical power of financial infrastructure and crypto’s growing role in rewriting the rules. If you want to understand the silent machinery behind global power, and why crypto might be the next battleground - don’t miss this one. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🪙FRAX | SELF SUFFICIENT DeFi https://bankless.cc/Frax 🦄UNISWAP | SWAP ON UNICHAIN https://bankless.cc/unichain 🛞MANTLE | MODULAR LAYER 2 NETWORK https://bankless.cc/Mantle 🟠BINANCE | THE WORLDS #1 CRYPTO EXCHANGE https://bankless.cc/binance 🦎COINGECKO API | REAL-TIME CRYPTO PRICE & MARKET DATA https://bankless.cc/coingecko --- TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 5:51 Sanctions 101 8:32 The History of Economic Warfare 17:03 When Sanctions Precede War 22:27 Life After Dollar Disconnection 31:28 Sanctioning Russia: Methods & Lessons 43:49 Measuring Sanctions’ Effectiveness 49:20 The Strategic Tradeoffs of Sanctions 57:28 The Rise of Dollar Dominance 1:04:05 Unseen Costs of Sanction Power 1:08:15 Shifting Global Economic Power 1:15:47 Risks to U.S. Economic Leadership 1:20:43 Stablecoins as U.S. Leverage 1:28:13 Crypto’s Role in Sanction Evasion ------ RESOURCES Edward Fishman https://x.com/edwardfishman Edward Fishman’s “Chokepoints” https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/726149/chokepoints-by-edward-fishman/ --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures