Within a generation, as the contours of the emerging multipolar world take shape, the U.S. dollar’s expansive role as the global trade and reserve currency will morph into a more modest role as the dominant trade and reserve currency within its geostrategic sphere of influence and a secondary currency elsewhere. Likewise, the currencies of the other great powers will be dominant within their respective spheres of influence: the Chinese renminbi, the Russian ruble, the Indian rupee, and perhaps the European Union’s euro. 

From the perspective of U.S. vital national interests, the overarching American strategic objective is to ensure that the international role of the U.S. dollar safeguards national security in its three inextricably intertwined aspects: military security, political security, and economic security.