The decline of an empire
The US dollar, not its merchandise or services, became America’s principal export. After decades of enjoying this benefit, US finds itself confronting multiple challenges, including lack of competitiveness in manufacturing. Some of the present global bloodbath was therefore inevitable. History has amply demonstrated that no change in global world order has ever happened without a major bloodbath
In the world of business, it’s often said that when something is offered to you for free, then you are probably the product. In international world order, if a nation and its people enjoy prosperity and clout beyond their economic competitiveness, then their currency is probably their product.
The end of World War II set in a motion a new world order that was dominated by the US, and this was further cemented by two factors, namely,
a) the US exiting the gold standard in 1973 through a now iconic announcement by President Nixon that resulted in a managed float for the dollar, and
b) collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.