Saleha Mohsin, author of  Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order told Alloway and Weisenthal, “In 2001, 9/11 hits and, you know, the Global War on Terror did not start with military tanks rolling into some country or American troops in their boots hitting the ground somewhere. It started Sept. 24th, 2001 with George W. Bush, with a stroke of a pen giving the US Treasury Department the authority to weaponize the dollar.”

It’s no secret Mr. Putin initiated the strategy to “de-dollarize” Russia’s economy. The yellow metal is now the second-largest component of the central bank’s reserves after the euro, which make up a third of its reserves. Chinese yuan reserves make up 12 percent.