Sanctions eroding USD’s global reach
History may hold US President Donald Trump responsible for undermining the pervasive influence of his country in several international agencies dating back to when the US was the sole superpower - from 1989 subsequent to the collapse of the Soviet Union roughly around 2017: World Trade Organisation (WTO) by raising tariffs on all imports into the US, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (insisting on greater equality in contributions by member countries and threatening to revisit Article 5 which stipulates that all member countries will come to the assistance of a member if attacked), and International Atomic Energy Agency (by bombing nuclear sites in Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory Iran thereby taking away the protection implicit to signatories).
But what President Trump cannot be solely held responsible for is the global momentum towards de-dollarisation mainly due to the overuse of sanctions by administrations dating back to 2000, including his own first term. Sanctions have become the tool of first resort for American presidents, which has compelled heavily sanctioned countries to consider trading in a currency other than the dollar through a messaging/transfer system that is not hostage to US-led sanctions.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecomm unication (SWIF T) was founded in 1973, essentially to replace telex, and has since become a global provider of secure financial messaging services. It is headquartered in Belgium and is a member owned cooperative connecting 11000 banks, financial institutions and corporations in more than 200 countries/territories and is overseen by G-10 banks — Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and USA – countries defined as the West, unequivocally led by the US.
In 2006-07, SWIFT allowed financial institutions to comply with FATF SR VII (fighting terrorist financing by mentioning more detailed information about the payment ordering customer). SWIFT then began to liaise closely with Financial Action Task Force to combat money........
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