America's Geopolitical Blunders

The U.S. Is Making China Great Again

In the grand theater of global politics, we’re watching a show that is both tragedy and farce. In case you haven’t noticed, the world order as we knew it is dead as a dodo. History is unfolding in real time, and the transition to a new order is becoming more messy, chaotic, and perilous by the week.

As someone who’s spent years in the trenches of conflict resolution and refugee resettlement, I know that power shifts don’t come neatly packaged—they involve missteps, surprises, and unintended consequences. These days, the United States is flexing its muscles at every turn. But these flexes aren’t strengthening America. Instead, they’re inadvertently making China stronger. 

For evidence we need look no further than the U.S. dollar. Since at least the end of World War II, it’s been the undisputed king of global finance, the mighty symbol of American power. The petrodollar system, whereby oil trades exclusively in US dollars, has kept global demand for the greenback high.

The Trump administration’s approach has been to wield dollar dominance like a club, sanctioning foes and friends alike to enforce adherence to the dollar system. Venezuela is a prime example. The US military snatch of Maduro wasn’t really about drugs or human rights. It was about Maduro cozying up to the BRICS nations, especially China and Russia, and Venezuelan oil being sold in non-dollar currencies. (You may recall both Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq floated the idea of abandoning the petrodollar, and look what happened to them.)

With Venezuela under America’s thumb, the message is clear: stray from the dollar and you’ll face the consequences. But this heavy-handedness is backfiring. The more the US weaponizes its currency to maintain its hegemony, the more it’s signaling, and accelerating, the end of that hegemony.

Americans have long lived under the illusion that they would forever maintain dollar dominance due to a simple belief: there is no alternative, aka TINA. But when you give countries enough incentive to move away from the dollar, they find alternatives. Many nations are wasting no time in diversifying away from the greenback.

The US response to this de-dollarization? Bribes, threats, and, recently, promoting an alternative vehicle to create demand for US treasuries: the Stablecoin, courtesy of the Genius Act. It’s basically the petrodollar passing the torch to a digital cousin, a gimmick to keep the flame alive.

The U.S. dollar’s reserve status is as integral to global dominance as the country’s vast military, and if the US can’t maintain currency supremacy it will resort to using its might, as we are seeing. Ironically, all this does is accelerate the shift. As other countries are targeted by threats and ongoing weaponization, they head for the exits. 

Using tariffs, Trump aimed to cripple China economically and force it into submission. Hefty duties on Chinese goods were supposed to humble Beijing and bring manufacturing home. China refused to buckle and responded with the diplomatic version of that middle finger that Trump gave an autoworker in Michigan.

China is simply rerouting supply chains and deepening ties with the Global South. As Chinese exports to the US decline, their exports to the rest of the world surge. Meanwhile, China is filling its vaults with gold and selling off U.S Treasuries at an unprecedented rate

If you study history, you won’t be surprised by China’s reaction. The Chinese have a long memory of the Century of Humiliation, as Mao once referenced, and won’t be pushed around. JD Vance calling the Chinese a bunch of peasants didn’t help—one Chinese official was quoted as saying, “China has been here for 5,000 years. Most of that time, there was no United States, and we survived. We expect to survive for another 5,000 years.”

That’s a history lesson with a side of shade. Meanwhile, US consumers foot the bill for higher prices, and American exporters face retaliatory hits. How’s that for a double whammy—achieve nothing with tariffs while hurting your constituency in the process.

This brings us to the bigger picture. Every country needs allies, but Trump seems happy to try and screw friend and foe alike. Look at the Greenland fiasco. Trump’s threats to take over the Danish territory for its resources and strategic position have NATO allies scratching their heads or shivering in panic.

Denmark made a symbolic move, selling $100 million in US treasuries as a quiet protest. You can bet the rest of the world is eyeing the exits as well, although more quietly.

Russia is relishing the Greenland drama—anything to break up the NATO alliance. China, for its part, is saying nothing. It doesn’t have a dog in this hunt, but you can bet they, too, are smiling as the West fractures and drives more countries into their open arms. 

A popular assumption is that all Trump’s flexing has mostly to do with distracting the American voters from his failure to make “America great again” by delivering on his promises of bringing back manufacturing and addressing the cost of living—and, oh yeah, whatever happened to all those Epstein files? Or maybe he was feeling his oats after bombing Iran and kidnapping Maduro, with no US military losses . Or maybe it’s just part of his “Art of the Deal” negotiating style—start with outrageous demands, freak everyone out, then settle for something better than what he would have otherwise got. 

Europe’s reaction to his “Donroe doctrine”—the Monroe doctrine on crack— is nothing short of weakness as the NATO countries realize they are merely a vassal state to the US. Knowing they’re not ready to defend themselves without US backing, and with US military bases all over Europe, they usually cave to US demands.

Trump is more restrained by what the equity and bond markets do in response to his chaotic style, which is why he started walking back his Greenland rhetoric when those markets got ugly. But the end result? More isolation for America.

For its part, China has been content to reshape the world order slowly and methodically. Beijing isn’t rattling sabers; they’re building roads, ports, and alliances through the Belt and Road Initiative. They’re helping African countries develop modern infrastructure in return for access to that continent’s resources. While the US bombs and bullies, China offers trade deals and infrastructure without the tumult of regime change.

Trump came along and took a sledgehammer to the existing order. The chaos, confusion, uncertainty, and fear that the U.S. is sowing is pushing the world away. China understands the virtue of patience and is content to watch the US self-destruct—as Napoleon said, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

As the US piles on tariffs and sanctions, global players hedge their bets. BRICS nations are creating parallel systems for trade and finance that bypass the dollar. The Genius Act’s stablecoin push might buy time, but it’s a band-aid on an open wound. Meanwhile, China’s yuan is increasingly being adopted in oil trades and cross-border payments.

Canada, weary of US tariffs on its exports, is already pivoting toward China, trading agriculture and energy for EVs. South Korea, a key U.S. ally, faces similar squeezes—Trump’s demands for more defense spending and trade concessions push them to hedge with Beijing. And let’s not forget the Global South, where US lectures on democracy and human rights ring hollow against China’s no-strings investments.

The petrodollar’s slow fade isn’t just about oil; it’s about trust. When allies like Europe grumble about US unpredictability, they start exploring expansion of trade with China. Trump’s “America First” sounds tough, but it’s leaving the US lonelier. Europe might cave short-term, but long-term resentment builds and EU countries are  considering closer trade ties with China.

The irony is striking. By trying to contain China, the US is supercharging its rise. Beijing doesn’t need to provoke; America’s blunders do the work. The bombing of Iranian sites might have scored points with the military industrial complex, but it rallied anti-US sentiment, driving Tehran closer to China. The oil grab in Venezuela further alienated Latin America, where China’s presence grows unchecked.

In the end, the US’s behavior isn’t benefiting America; it’s making China great again. The weaponization of the dollar, the tariff tantrums, the ally-alienating antics—all of it is fueling a multipolar world in which China emerges as the steady hand.

If Trump really wants to deliver to his shrinking MAGA base, he might be smart to dial back the chaos. Otherwise, we’re all in for a bumpy and dangerous ride. The big winner of this geopolitical smackdown won’t be wearing stars and stripes. It will be the dragon waiting patiently in the shadows, gaining strength and credibility with every American misstep.