In this episode, I’m joined by Radhika Desai, professor in the Department of Political Studies and director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group at the University of Manitoba, to discuss dollar imperialism and the key role that the U.S. dollar plays in upholding American dominance on the world stage. We dig into the history of the dollar system from the early 20th century onwards, examining the significance and contradictions of the dollar’s status as global reserve currency in the capitalist world system, and explore the concept of ‘de-dollarization’ and what it means for the future of American empire.

Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Washington, D.C. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.

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Sources and helpful links:

• Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson — Beyond dollar creditocracy: A geopolitical economy (Real World Economics Review, September 2021)

• Radhika Desai — Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire (Pluto Press, 2013)

• Alex Kozul-Wright — Is the US dollar at risk of a ‘confidence crisis’? (Al Jazeera, April 2025)

• How a dollar crisis would unfold (The Economist, April 2025)

• Dominik A. Leusder — Trump Has Exposed the Fragility of the Global Dollar System (Jacobin, April 2025)

• Tim Smith — How The Triffin Dilemma Affects Currencies (Investopedia, May 2024)

• US ‘neo-imperialist’ dollar scheme explained by economist Yanis Varoufakis (Geopolitical Economy Report, March 2023)

• Saleha Mohsin — How the Dollar Became America’s Most Powerful Weapon (interview in Current Affairs, May 2024)

• Marco Rubio — Tyrannical China wants to topple the US dollar (The Telegraph, May 2023)

• Yanis Varoufakis — Imagining a new Keynesian Bretton Woods (Project Syndicate, May 2016)

• Petition calling on George Washington University to fire Professor Joseph Pelzman

• Karl Marx — Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist (from Capital, Volume 1, 1867)
  

Social links:

Return to Bandung:

• Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/returntobandung⁠

• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/⁠

Pranay Somayajula:

• Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/p_somayajula⁠

• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/⁠

• Website: ⁠https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/⁠

• Substack: ⁠https://www.culture-shock.xyz/⁠

Radhika Desai:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RadDesai

• Website: https://radhikadesai.com/

• YouTube show: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

Geopolitical Economy Research Group:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GERGconf

• Website: https://geopoliticaleconomy.org/