> This is why using financial system as a weapon of politics (or war) is fraught with danger. Sure, for this situation, it might be the best option short of a s

> This is why using financial system as a weapon of politics (or war) is fraught with danger. Sure, for this situation, it might be the best option short of a shooting war, but countries that currently rely on the US financial system would be smart to think of strategies to diversify themselves. This diversification will take away financial prowess from the US, and remove some of that wealth associated with such prowess. But that diversification was probably going to eventually happen anyway, so it could be foolish to refrain too long from using the "weapon" of financial system sanctions, since eventually they would become useless even if it's never used. IMHO, the era of globalization is over, so every power is going to pull back (at least a little) and setup defenses where they're dependent on adversaries. For countries like Russia and China, that means creating alternatives to the Western financial system; for the West that means pulling manufacturing back from China. This may be an area where the West is at a disadvantage, due to democracy and stronger ideological commitments to free markets. An Authoritarian can make a decision to protect a longer term goal and tell her population to suck up the short-term consequences (e.g. higher prices), but a Democrat may just get kicked out of power in favor of someone who will ignore the long-term risks to avoid the short-term costs.