Paper Soldiers

How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order

By: Saleha Mohsin

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

"Incisive debut treatise... Mohsin brings to the proceedings a reporter's eye for story"—Publisher's Weekly

From Bloomberg News reporter Saleha Mohsin, the untold story of how one of America’s most invincible institutions—the Treasury—has used the U.S. dollar to define America’s role in the world, and our economic future.

In 1995, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin re-defined the next thirty years of currency policy with the mantra, “A strong dollar is in America’s interest.” That mantra held, ushering in exceptional prosperity and cheap foreign goods, but the strong dollar policy also played a role in the devastating hollowing out of America’s manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, abroad, the United States increasingly turned to the dollar as a weapon of war. In Paper Soldiers, Saleha Mohsin reveals how the Treasury Department has shaped U.S. policy at home and overseas by wielding the American dollar as a weapon—and what that means in a new age of crisis.

For decades, America has preferred its currency superpower-strong, the basis of a "strong dollar" policy that attracted foreign investors and pleased consumers. Drawing on Mohsin's unparalleled access to current and former Treasury officials like Robert Rubin, Steven Mnuchin, and Janet Yellen, Paper Soldiers traces that policy's intended and unintended consequences, including the rise of populist sentiment and trade war with China—culminating in an unprecedented attack on the dollar’s pristine status during the Trump presidency—and connects the dollar's weaponization from 9/11 to the deployment of crippling financial sanctions against Russia. Ultimately, Mohsin argues that, untethered from many of the economic assumptions of the last generation, the power and influence of the American dollar is now at stake.

With first-hand reporting and fresh analysis that illustrates the vast, often unappreciated power that the Treasury Department wields at home and abroad, Paper Soldiers tells the inside story of how we really got here—and the future not only of the almighty dollar, but the nation’s teetering role as a democratic superpower.

©2024 Saleha Mohsin (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Paper Soldiers is a deeply reported, authoritative examination of Washington’s hidden power center—the U.S. Treasury—and how the men and women who've overseen it have helped turn the U.S. dollar into a powerful, contentious, and ultimately risky weapon of global influence. A must-read book for anyone looking to go beyond the headlines and truly understand how power works in Washington.”—Joshua Green, #1 NYT bestselling author of Devil's Bargain, and a writer for Bloomberg Businessweek

“With thorough reporting and enlightening, propulsive writing, Saleha Mohsin ushers readers into the gilded rooms and global hotspots where the American dollar has shaped history. A brilliant feat of explanatory journalism."—Toluse Olorunnipa, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice

“Saleha Mohsin expertly guides us through the last several decades of mistakes and triumphs in our dollar policy with meticulous fly-on-the-wall detail. The result is a vital read for anyone who worries that the best days for the dollar are behind us."—Jesse Eisinger, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of The Chickenshit Club, and a senior editor and reporter at ProPublica

"Essential reading... [Paper Soldiers] brings to life the narrative of how Treasury officials have used the U.S. dollar as a tool of American foreign policy over the last three decades — along with the hazards that has created"— Neil Irwin, author of The Alchemist

An important read for all Americans

Paper Soldiers creates a clear view of how the dollar shapes policy and how policy shapes the dollar. Written with an accessible style, this book makes it easy for all of us to have insight into the complex economics that shape our lives. Even those of us who have no economic or even political expertise. This book gives the opportunity for all to have the understanding they need to recognize how important the language and policy of our leadership is in terms of the impact on our lives and the lives of people across the globe. Well researched and well sourced. Excellent.

This is a great book on the weaponization of the dollar

I really enjoyed this book about how the Dollar has been polarized into a weapon of mass destruction. It is amazing how powerful people can influence this currency just in a few words that disrupts the whole world.

A must read

Excellent. Well done explanation of our financial system, our trade strategy, why a strong dollar is so important and how idiots can bring it down

Felt leftist. Disappointing

I was looking for a book that covered the impact of the dollar with regard to recent US policies. This was NOT it.

If you like Trump bashing in particular and GOP in general, you'll probably like this book. The author dutifully mentions democracy, saving our preserving democracy ad nauseum, Jan 6th, It felt partisan.

Lacks a Thesis

This is a boring history lesson and lacks a unique perspective. So what? If I know all these references what am I gaining from this book?

Anti-Trump should be the title

I like listening to Bloomberg, so wanted to listen to this to learn unique things about the value of the dollar. But learned nothing new. Could have learned all of this in the book through Wikipedia. Then the author spent a third of the book bashing Trump. I don’t like him either, but at the same time don’t want to waste time reading things that I already knew. Disappointing as the author obviously showed a bias against Trump and chose to spend almost half of the book lamenting on him.