Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen correspondent in southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone strike targeted the town of Yater, South Lebanon
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One martyr and five wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a car in Al-Numayriyeh, Nabatieh District.
Al Mayadeen correspondent to Gaza: The areas required to be evacuated in western Gaza contain tens of thousands of displaced people.
Al-Mayadeen correspondent to Gaza: The Israeli evacuation threats are for areas the occupation considers safe, deep within western Gaza.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister: Beirut has not received any official memorandum from Syria, neither through the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic channels nor via the joint Lebanese-Syrian committee.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister told Al Mayadeen that he has not received any official notification regarding a potential visit by his Syrian counterpart to Beirut
Russia calls for the continuation of ceasefire between "Israel" and Iran without any breaks: Lavrov
The Israeli military command confirmed the death of an officer—a commander serving as a team leader in the elite 1st Golani Brigade’s Patrol Battalion—during intense confrontations in the southern Gaza Strip
Israeli media: An Israeli guard was killed in a shooting attack at the Gush Etzion Junction, and those who carried out the operation were injured
Ofer Military Court extended Nasser al-Lahham's detention for three days

Ex-CIA advisor predicts date when US dollar hegemony will collapse

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 Jun 2023 23:24
  • 28 Shares
6 Min Read

The collective push to replace the US dollar as the world reserve currency has much to do with Washington's "weaponization of the dollar through the use of sanctions."

  • x
  • James G. Rickards. (WIkipedia)
    Ex-CIA advisor James G. Rickards. (WIkipedia)

In an op-ed posted on The Daily Reckoning on Tuesday, former CIA and Department of Defense advisor and investment banker James Rickards predicted that August 22 will be the day the US dollar's status, as the world reserve currency and medium for exchange will formally collapse.

Many factors are worth considering, including the weaponization of the dollar against Russia's economy amid the conflict in Ukraine, the US' own national debt of $31 trillion, and recent talks on the part of the BRICS+ group to create an alternative trade and reserve currency that would rival the dollar. 

"On August 22, about two-and-a-half months from today, the most significant development in international finance since 1971 will be unveiled," Rickards writes in reference to the upcoming BRICS+ Leaders Summit which will unveil plans for substituting the dollar in global trade. 

What is interesting to note is that on that same day in 1971, August 22 was also the day the US dropped the gold standard. "It involves the rollout of a major new currency that could weaken the role of the dollar in global payments and ultimately displace the US dollar as the leading payment currency and reserve currency," Rickards added, noting that the shift could span over a period of "just a few years."

Read next: Dollar dominance in decline: Expert

Rickards says the push for a new currency spearheaded by the BRICS+ group will "affect world trade, direct foreign investment and investor portfolios in dramatic and unforeseen ways," and cause an "unprecedented [...] geopolitical shockwave."

He also said that the BRICS+ plans for expansion are "the most important development of the BRICS system," noting that eight countries have so far already applied for membership, along with twelve others expressing an interest in joining the bloc, including Saudi Arabia, which assisted the US in propelling the dollar currency to the status of world hegemon through establishing the petrodollar system. 

"There's more to this list than just increasing the headcount at future BRICS meetings," Rickards emphasized, pointing out that "if Saudi Arabia and Russia are both members, you have two of the three largest energy producers under one tent (the US is the other member of the energy Big Three)."

On another note, the BRICS countries make up 30 percent of the world's surface, with 50 percent of global wheat and rice production, and 15 percent of the planet's gold reserves. It accounts for 40 percent of the world population, 28 percent of nominal GDP (pending Saudi Arabia's membership), and 52 percent is measured under the PPP formula.

Related News

Cuba says new US sanctions will not 'bend the will of the people'

FBI Deputy Director may quit over Epstein file, managed by Trump's AG

"By every measure – population, landmass, energy output, GDP, food output, and nuclear weapons – BRICS is not just another multilateral debating society. They are a substantial and credible alternative to Western hegemony," Rickards said.
 
Accordingly, when the bloc launches its new currency, it will not simply "fall on an empty field," but be integrated "into a sophisticated network of capital and communications," which should "greatly enhance its chances of success," he argued.

Read more: Dollar becoming less attractive for emerging market investors

Elsewhere in the op-ed, Rickards said that the BRICS currency is expected to be pegged to a basket of trade commodities or gold, and will likely appear in the form of a digital currency instead of paper money.

He also said that chances for success for the BRICS currency to replace the US dollar will depend on the formation of an alternative to the US bonds market which is seen as the safest bet to safeguard assets value. 

"The key is to create a BRICS+ currency bond market in 20 or more countries at once, relying on retail investors in each country to buy the bonds. The BRICS+ bonds would be offered through banks and postal offices and other retail outlets. They would be denominated in BRICS+ currency, but investors could purchase them in local currency at market-based exchange rates. Since the currency is gold-backed it would offer an attractive store of value compared with inflation," Rickards writes. 

He added that "if the BRICS+ use a kind of Liberty Bond patriotic model, they may well be able to create international reserve assets denominated in the BRICS+ currency even in the absence of developed market support. This entire turn of events – introduction of a new gold-backed currency, rapid adoption as a payment currency, and gradual use as a reserve asset currency – will begin on August 22, 2023, after years of development."
 
Read more: Cuba's Diaz-Canel: Using dollar gives US 'aggressive' hegemony

The collective push to replace the US dollar as the world reserve currency has much to do with Washington's "weaponization of the dollar through the use of sanctions," Rickards writes.

"On numerous occasions from 2007-2014, I warned US officials from the Treasury, Pentagon, and intelligence community that overuse or abuse of dollar sanctions would lead adversaries to abandon the dollar to avoid the impact of sanctions. Such abandonment would lead to the diluted potency of sanctions, unforeseen costs imposed on the US, and eventually to the collapse of confidence in the dollar itself. These warnings were mostly ignored. We have now reached the first and second stages of this forecast and are dangerously close to the third," the observer wrote.

Western sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022 have particularly hastened the process of de-dollarization, causing "many other nations" to realize that "they could be next if they run afoul of the US on certain issues."

In sum, Rickards predicted that the process of de-dollarization could occur at a "much faster" pace than he previously expected, owing to the fact that several countries are opting to carry out trade and financial transactions in local currencies, but also because of the "growing strategic relationship" between Beijing and Moscow "as the two superpowers jointly confront the US."

Read more: New BRICS currency set to revolutionize world economy: The Post

  • United States
  • US hegemony
  • US dollar
  • James Rickards
  • CIA

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Concrete and rubble fall from a heavily damaged building as Israeli soldiers search for survivors in a residential area hit by a missile fired from Iran, near Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine, Sunday, June 15, 2025 (AP)

'Israel' concealed damage inflicted by Iran in war, report finds

  • Politics
  • 5 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Yemenis burn US and Israeli flags during an anti-US and anti-Israeli weekly rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, June 20, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Sanaa slams UN envoy over biased statement on Red Sea operations

Palestinians carry the body of Abdul Qusay Issa, 23, who was killed in an Israeli military raid, during his funeral at the West Bank village of Salem, near Nablus, Sunday, July 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli settlers kill Palestinian youth in brutal West Bank assault

Vehicles drive past a banner showing portraits of the Iranian armed forces commanders and nuclear scientists who were killed in an Israeli strike, at Tajrish Square in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran envisions a resistant, independent Middle East, Larijani says

An al-Qassam Brigades fighter stands over the corpse of an Israeli soldier killed in Khan Younis, Gaza, in footage published on July 10, 2025 (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam kill Israeli soldier in new 'scandal' for Israeli forces

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS