Sanctions have proven a valuable weapon against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, allowing Western nations to cripple the country's economy and target the oligarchs who run it. They've also accelerated a trend to move away from the dollar as the chief currency for international payments.
Since sanctions against Russia were imposed in 2014 in response to the country's annexation of Crimea, countries such as Russia, China, and India have been moving to conduct more payments in alternative currencies, potentially blunting the effect of US sanctions. China has been leading the charge, with the long term goal of replacing the dollar with its currency. the renminbi.
In this episode of YDHTY, I spoke with Zoe Liu of the Council on Foreign Relations about China's plans to promote the renminbi as the world's reserve currency and what this might mean for the global order as we know it. You can listen to the full episode below, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else your bad self gets your podcasts.