We either coup, sanction, manipulate with predatory loans or invade every country that tries to sell its resources for something other than US dollars, or nationalize their natural resources, or seize property from United States corporations. The goal being that raw materials are kept cheap and that cheap goods continue to flow into the USA. And it’s our ability to print infinite amounts of money that in turn makes it possible for us to fund such an oversized army. It’s just an empire, by other means.

If that’s not true, perhaps you can name a single exception? Sure, without coercion the dollar would still be the reserve currency for a while just on momentum. But keeping it that way requires a bit more.

Or, a lot more.

From https://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peopl...

Instances of the United States overthrowing, or attempting to overthrow, a foreign government since the Second World War. (* indicates successful ouster of a government)

China 1949 to early 1960s

Albania 1949-53

East Germany 1950s

Iran 1953 *

Guatemala 1954 *

Costa Rica mid-1950s

Syria 1956-7

Egypt 1957

Indonesia 1957-8

British Guiana 1953-64 *

Iraq 1963 *

North Vietnam 1945-73

Cambodia 1955-70 *

Laos 1958 , 1959 , 1960 *

Ecuador 1960-63 *

Congo 1960 *

France 1965

Brazil 1962-64 *

Dominican Republic 1963 *

Cuba 1959 to present

Bolivia 1964 *

Indonesia 1965 *

Ghana 1966 *

Chile 1964-73 *

Greece 1967 *

Costa Rica 1970-71

Bolivia 1971 *

Australia 1973-75 *

Angola 1975, 1980s

Zaire 1975

Portugal 1974-76 *

Jamaica 1976-80 *

Seychelles 1979-81

Chad 1981-82 *

Grenada 1983 *

South Yemen 1982-84

Suriname 1982-84

Fiji 1987 *

Libya 1980s

Nicaragua 1981-90 *

Panama 1989 *

Bulgaria 1990 *

Albania 1991 *

Iraq 1991

Afghanistan 1980s *

Somalia 1993

Yugoslavia 1999-2000 *

Ecuador 2000 *

Afghanistan 2001 *

Venezuela 2002 *

Iraq 2003 *

Haiti 2004 *

Somalia 2007 to present

Honduras 2009 *

Libya 2011 *

Syria 2012

Ukraine 2014 *

Bolivia 2018 *

And probably, now Guinea 2021 *

And that’s not even considering the dozens of countries we have sanctions or embargoes against or the ones we’re actively bombing. Or the ones we’ve manipulated through predatory financial instruments. Considering the oceans of blood we’ve spilled to maintain the dollar empire it’s honestly a little bit insulting to suggest it’s all based on good feelings or some such nonsense. It’s maintained at the barrel of a gun, baby. You don’t build a globe spanning empire by being nice.