# The dollar is a weapon: How the US controls countries with financial colonialism Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-economy-report-5434689/the-dollar-is-a-weapon-how-the-us-controls-countries-with-financial-colonialism Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-economy-report-5434689/the-dollar-is-a-weapon-how-the-us-controls-countries-with-financial-colonialism.md Podcast: [Geopolitical Economy Report](https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-economy-report-5434689) Published: 2026-09-17T13:00:44+00:00 Episode link: https://soundcloud.com/geopoliticaleconomy/dollar-us-financial-colonialism Audio file: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2399578350-geopoliticaleconomy-dollar-us-financial-colonialism.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/geopolitical-economy-report-5434689/episodes/the-dollar-is-a-weapon-how-the-us-controls-countries-with-financial-colonialism Duration seconds: 1785 ## Resource The USA uses the dollar as a weapon to control countries, by imposing sanctions; cutting governments, banks, and companies out of the US-dominated financial system; and taking over the oil revenue of nations like Iraq and Venezuela. Ben Norton explains how US financial colonialism works. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkza5cRBuG4 Topics 0:00 US empire 1:16 CIA-backed coups 1:42 US sanctions one-third of world 2:23 Why sanctions are so destructive 4:23 US financial attacks blow back 4:49 BRICS seeks alternatives 5:56 Petrodollar system in crisis 7:02 How USA controls Iraq's oil revenue 10:26 USA threatens Iraq over Iran 12:12 Economic difficulties for Iraqis 13:34 US colonial scheme in Venezuela 14:39 China, world's biggest oil importer 15:18 Iraqi plans to sell oil in yuan 17:07 US attacks China-built schools 18:34 Trump attack on Iraq in 2020 20:08 US military occupation of Iraq 21:00 Iran attacks US military bases 21:49 Petrodollar system is breaking 25:30 US bond market problems 27:15 Iran war fuels inflation 27:50 US aggression is backfiring 29:16 Outro ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/geopolitical-economy-report-5434689/episodes/the-dollar-is-a-weapon-how-the-us-controls-countries-with-financial-colonialism/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-economy-report-5434689/the-dollar-is-a-weapon-how-the-us-controls-countries-with-financial-colonialism.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.