Historically, the United States punished nations that tried to trade oil using currencies other than the US dollar. But recently it has not been able to stop countries from branching out and making deals in other currencies.

Russia and China are leading the charge, but more countries may be jumping on the bandwagon, including Brazil and Saudi Arabia.

So, are we witnessing the beginning of the end of the dollar’s supremacy?

Host Steve Clemons puts this question to renowned energy market expert, Daniel Yergin, the vice chairman of S&P Global and author of The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.

Historically, the United States punished nations that tried to trade oil using currencies other than the US dollar. But recently it has not been able to stop countries from branching out and making deals in other currencies. Russia and China are leading the charge, but more countries may be jumping on the bandwagon, including Brazil and Saudi Arabia. So, are we witnessing the beginning of the end of the dollar’s supremacy? Host Steve Clemons puts this question to renowned energy market expert, Daniel Yergin, the vice chairman of S&P Global and author of The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.

A weekly take on US politics and policies and how they affect the world.

The Bottom Line

Are fears about a dying dollar exaggerated? | The Bottom Line

America First foreign policy means that the United States is becoming a country that opposes the rule of law, free trade and collective security, argues Ian Bremmer, president of the risk analysis firm Eurasia Group.

Bremmer tells host Steve Clemons that the international system built by the US over decades “was going to reach a geopolitical bust” regardless of the advent of President Donald Trump.

Washington’s decision to project power in Venezuela, coupled with rhetoric threatening Greenland, “makes the US more unreliable for its allies”, according to Bremmer, “and a much bigger driver of geopolitical risk on the global stage”.

After Maduro: Is the US driving global instability? | The Bottom Line

The United States has realised it cannot keep “trying to police the whole world”, argues Victor Gao, the vice president of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing.

Gao tells host Steve Clemons that improved China-US relations are “inevitable” although he warns that some American policymakers still view China as the number one threat and Chinese officials “never underestimate what American neofascists will cook up next”.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Gao maintains that Beijing has replaced Washington as the world’s champion of free trade and won’t allow the US to dominate the field of artificial intelligence.

Has the US made peace with the rise of China?

Months after being attacked by the United States and Israel, Iran finds itself in the crosshairs again, with Israeli officials lobbying US President Donald Trump to address Tehran's ballistic missiles.

Veteran Iranian diplomat Javad Zarif tells host Steve Clemons that "everybody lost any faith in diplomacy" after Israel and the US attacked Iran following five rounds of reconciliation talks between Washington and Tehran.

Zarif added that Israel has historically thwarted every opportunity for reconciliation between Iran and the US, and that Trump's style of diplomacy is disastrous, as it creates "negotiations that end up in war".

Are fears about a dying dollar exaggerated? | The Bottom Line

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