The era of a strong, passive dollar designed to attract foreign capital is over. The US now actively manipulates the dollar's value to suit strategic needs, rewarding allies and punishing enemies. The currency has been drafted into foreign policy as a tool of statecraft, moving from a stable 'King' to an active 'General'.

Global demand for dollars as the reserve currency forces the U.S. to run persistent trade deficits to supply them. This strengthens the dollar and boosts import power but hollows out the domestic industrial base. A future decline in dollar demand would create a painful economic transition.

America's ability to deficit spend relies on the world's appetite for US debt, which allows it to export inflation. If countries dump this debt, the US can no longer "tax the world," triggering immediate domestic austerity and creating a global power vacuum likely to be filled by China.

Modern global conflict is primarily economic, not kinetic. Nations now engage in strategic warfare through currency debasement, asset seizures, and manipulating capital flows. The objective is to inflict maximum financial damage on adversaries, making economic policy a primary weapon of war.

Beyond strategic ports, China's maneuvering includes creating financial infrastructure, like a South American gold corridor, as part of a larger strategy to establish a gold-backed currency that could rival and undermine the US dollar's status as the world's reserve currency.

The primary risk for the U.S. is not the inevitable decline of the dollar's dominance, which could rebalance the economy. The danger lies in trying to fight this trend, leading to a disorderly and painful collapse rather than a graceful, managed transition from a position of strength.

The US is signaling a major shift from its long-standing 'King Dollar' policy. By being willing to devalue the dollar, it can strategically intervene in currency markets to bolster allies like Japan while simultaneously hurting economic adversaries like China by making US manufacturing more competitive.

Each time the U.S. uses financial sanctions, it demonstrates the risks of relying on the dollar system. This incentivizes adversaries like Russia and China to accelerate the development of parallel financial infrastructure, weakening the dollar's long-term network effect and dominance.

The aggressive, go-it-alone tactics of the 'America First' doctrine alienate both allies and adversaries. This pushes them to build alternative payment systems and trade alliances, speeding up the very de-dollarization and decline in U.S. influence that the strategy aims to prevent.