Book Notes: Chokepoints

LessWrong summarizes Edward Fishman's 2025 book *Chokepoints*, which argues that the United States now leverages its control over the dollar‑denominated financial system as a modern weapon of economic warfare. By cutting foreign banks’ access to dollar clearing, Washington pressured Iran between two thousand five and two thousand fifteen, driving inflation up to forty percent and helping force a nuclear agreement, and later employed similar sanctions against Russia after its two thousand twenty‑one invasion of Ukraine. The author notes that while these financial chokepoints avoid the costs of traditional blockades, the outcomes remain uncertain and can backfire. As the book concludes, wielding economic leverage is still a fickle business with no guaranteed results.

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