March 03, 2025
Edward Fishman: How the U.S. Turned the Global Financial System into a Potent Weapon of War
In the last two decades, a new form of economic warfare has emerged, pioneered by officials from the George W. Bush era, who transformed the global financial system into a potent weapon against their adversaries. The key was leveraging economic resources that the US dominates–such as the US dollar–to exert pressure on adversaries. Tariffs, though not traditionally considered a tool of economic warfare, have historically been used for economic reasons, such as securing reciprocal trade agreements or protecting domestic industries from foreign competition. Trump, however, has so far treated them as a catch-all solution for all sorts of issues, including the migrant crisis. “He’s trying to use tariffs as this cure-all, almost like a magic bullet to solve every possible problem,” says Edward Fishman, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. “Tariffs are actually a weak tool if you're using them as a national security weapon.”
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