What’s Washington’s real beef with Moscow? — Analysis

For months now we’ve been hearing Washington ring alarm bells regarding what they have cited as an “imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.” According to the latest so-called US “intelligence,” a full-scale invasion would take place this week. Despite what some have claimed for many months, there has not been an invasion and I don’t believe it is likely. 

Moscow, which has announced that its troops are pulling back from Russia’s border with Ukraine, has consistently denied that it has any intention of invading. Washington has tried to convince Russia with repeated false-flag accusations and the stationing of troops across Eastern Europe. The more Russia’s President Vladimir Putin refuses to take the bait, the greater the despair in Washington.

Why is Washington – and by extension NATO and the EU – so obsessed with Ukraine? They want to know what they are trying to do. Understanding the mechanisms by which Washington gets its power makes it easier to comprehend its behavior in relations to Russia. 

Let’s put aside all the bluster Washington spews regarding human rights, democracy and sovereignty, because these are just issues which it uses as cover and which it routinely disregards itself in order to achieve its aims. Is this really what Washington wants?

To contain Russia, it wants to condense and inflame the Ukraine question. It wants to control Russia. Well, Washington derives its global power through its control of the US dollar, also known as the world’s reserve currency. This special status enables Washington to amass obscene deficits that do not in any way reflect America’s true productive capacity. 

Since it was replaced by sterling in 1920s, US dollars have been the predominant currency used to transact internationally. Prices for commodities such as oil and base metals are in dollars and they can be paid for in dollars. The greenback has been a popular currency worldwide, adding a significant value and generating strong demand for US Treasuries. The American federal government can print billions of dollars every day, borrow endlessly and then spend recklessly.

America’s global dominance has made it a powerful country. However, China, Russia, and other countries that are economically challenged by the US now pose a threat to its power. Many are now seeking to ditch their dependence on the dollar as Washington has continued to abuse it’s status as issuer of the world’s reserve currency over the decades.

Particularly, Russia and China have drastically reduced their dollar use. Their bilateral transactions in 2015 were almost 90% conducted using dollars. But since the start of the US-China trade war, that’s fallen to 46% and is rapidly declining further. So even US partners and allies, such as India and Turkey have started trading in their own national currencies, when they feel comfortable. Many countries question why US financial institutions are used as intermediaries in international banking.

Beijing encourages the use of the country’s currency, the Renminbi in international trade transactions. This is especially true under the massive Belt and Road Initiative. China is recovering faster than any of the big economies in Covid-19. Foreign capital has also been flowing into Beijing as it opens up its financial markets.

Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, has told The Nikkei Asian Review that the Russia-China “dedollarization” was approaching a “breakthrough moment” that could elevate their relationship to a de-facto alliance.

Washington is deeply concerned by this alliance and the threat it poses to the dominance of the dollar. “The current dollar-centric system cannot continue forever,” says Barry Eichengreen, Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley. “A multipolar international monetary and financial system is coming, as the United States accounts for a declining share of the global economy.”

Goldman Sachs strategists predicted there would be now “real concerns around the longevity of the US dollar as a reserve currency,”Stanley Druckenmiller, a billionaire US manager of funds, has said that the dollar may not be the dominant global reserve currency in 15 years.

Ironically, America’s growing use of severe sanctions against countries it doesn’t like, such as China and Russia, has fuelled this trend, as countries seek new ways of financing trade without Washington having the ability to seize their money. “The U.S., by continuously using sanctions, is beginning to cut off its nose to spite its face,” Anuradha Chenoy, formerly the dean of Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies in New Delhi, has said. 

In a separate piece, I covered all this detail. RT DE(Germany) April 20, 2021. entitled Nord Stream 2 – The real reason for the US government’s revulsion:

“…The United States government, as the issuer of the world’s reserve currency, is only interested in one thing: the proliferation of the US dollar. To understand US foreign policies, one must only grasp this single truth.

“What does this mean in practice? It means that the US government, in collusion with the Federal Reserve, has the ability to print the US dollar at will… and can export its inflation to the rest of the nations of the world. For any country to be allowed to participate in international trade (including the purchase of commodities like natural gas and oil), it must keep large US Dollar reserves.

“The world, in effect, acts as a sponge to absorb US inflation, allowing the US government to amass obscene deficits that enable a massive military budget and enrich a very small portion of the US population at the expense not only of the world’s population, but also of the American working class.

“As for any nation that wants to break free of the US dollar, we know all too well what the US has in store for them…This is where the Russian Federation comes in. Understanding the role of the US dollar in the global economy is the only way to truly understand why Vladimir Putin hates Russia. Russia poses a threat to the US dollar’s proliferation.

“For its part, the Russian Federation has become quite resilient over the last 20 years and much less susceptible to any outside pressure or influence… Russia is a sovereign nation that is not intimidated by the United States. 

“The United States cannot simply launch a military strike against the Russian Federation as it did in Iraq and many other nations that rejected dollar hegemony. Russia is now able to stop the US dollar’s proliferation. Russia is shrinking the sponge to return to our sponge analogy. The US government now has fewer countries that it can export dollars inflation to. The smaller the sponge becomes, the more desperate US foreign policy becomes, as US leaders try by all means to preserve their grip on world power…”

Any nation that does not abide by Washington’s edicts and refuses to play the dollar game is met with a color revolution, a coup, a false flag or brute military force. Washington understands that as more dollars are held overseas, the US will be forced to import more to increase inflationary pressures. For example, this is why Washington opposes Nord Stream 2: Because the price mechanism will be determined by the Russians, the Germans, and not Washington.

Each nation should choose the currency it wants to trade in, and not be forced to do so by the US.

Washington wants to draw Russian troops into Ukraine. Washington must use every tool at her disposal to control Russia. Then, she should be forced into subjugation. complete and unconditional acceptance by Russia of US dollar hegemony. 

After decades of misuse, the dollar-based current monetary system has run out of gas. The interest rates have been artificially reduced to zero by central banks in western countries. Quantitative easing is a method of monetizing debt at a rapid pace and consumers prices are rising as a result. 

Washington will continue to do anything required to continue the dollar’s supremacy, including using Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder in its efforts to provoke Russia and force dollar hegemony on her. Washington is determined to isolate Russia and make her a hostile aggressor. Vladimir Putin is not likely to be lured.