Finance and multipolarization: currency as a geopolitical weapon

An analysis by André Lévy-Lang and Julien Pincet, published in Revue Banque and available here:
https://www.revue-banque.fr/economie/macro-economie/finance-et-multipolarisation-la-monnaie-comme-arme-ME26112691

In an analysis published in Revue Banque, André Lévy-Lang and Julien Pincet show how money and financial infrastructures, far from being mere economic tools, can serve as powerful instruments in international relations.

In an illuminating introduction, they revisit a major episode in monetary history: the Sino-Japanese rivalry, which for centuries was shaped by monetary considerations.

The global financial system has undergone profound transformations: from the Bretton Woods architecture, which established the dominance and centrality of the U.S. dollar, to its consolidation on new foundations after 1971, and then, from the early 2000s onward, to the growing use of the dollar as an instrument of economic coercion, a role that has now become central.

Today, new payment infrastructures are emerging around the world (in Europe, China, India, Brazil, and Russia), partly challenging the dollar’s status as the indispensable currency of the international financial system.

This evolution does not necessarily imply the imminent disappearance of the dollar’s key attributes, even over the coming years. Nevertheless, it points to an increasingly fragmented financial landscape, in which multiple systems coexist, raising the risk of insufficient interoperability and coordination, or of major regulatory frictions affecting the links between them.

According to the authors, the real challenge is not merely monetary but, more broadly, systemic: how can we operate in a world where rules, payment networks, and financial standards are increasingly likely to diverge?

👉 Read the full article in Revue Banque:
https://www.revue-banque.fr/economie/macro-economie/finance-et-multipolarisation-la-monnaie-comme-arme-ME26112691

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