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by Daniel McDowell (Author)
The US dollar is the world's indispensable currency. The dollar's preeminent status gives the United States enormous coercive powers which it flexes in the form of financial sanctions to punish its adversaries. Over the last twenty years, Washington has relied on financial sanctions with greater and greater frequency. Bucking the Buck argues that the more the United States wields the dollar as a weapon of foreign policy, the more its adversaries will move their international economic activities into other currencies to avoid Washington's coercive reach. Through a combination of case studies and statistical analysis, the book establishes a relationship between US financial sanctions and the rise of "anti-dollar" policies, which are designed to reduce an economy's reliance on the US currency. Though some anti-dollar policies fail to achieve this goal, McDowell's analysis indicates that in many cases they are successful. Patterns of "de-dollarization" following sanctions are clear.
In some cases, the anticipation of future sanctions may provoke similar policy measures.
Author Biography
Daniel McDowell is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a 2022-23 Wilson China Fellow at the Wilson Center. His research focuses on the international politics of money and finance, with a focus on the role of the United States and China in these arenas. He is the author of numerous articles in top international relations journals as well as Brother, Can You Spare a Billion? The United States, the IMF, and the International Lender of Last Resort (Oxford, 2017).
