A blunt take on how the U.S. uses the dollar to pressure other countries — framed as a warning about American economic power.

• The whole world needs dollars to buy energy and trade, so the U.S. controls the plumbing of the global economy.
• One lever is sanctions: when the U.S. left the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it forced European companies to choose between Iran and access to the U.S. financial system, and they left Iran.
• Another lever is cutting off dollar access, like freezing Panama's money in 1988, which shut its banks for weeks and crushed its economy.
• War is a third tool — it drives up inflation, turns people against their leaders, and opens the door to swapping in a friendlier government.
• The slow option is funding opposition groups and media inside a country until it tears itself apart from within.

Outlook: As long as the dollar runs global trade, expect the U.S. to keep using it as leverage over rivals.