Petrodollars
Did petrodollars create a silent empire beneath every drop of oil?
4.1 (22)
45 mins
Explore how a secret 1970s deal between the US and Saudi Arabia transformed oil into the new gold standard. Discover how petrodollars helped the US maintain global dominance while quietly taxing the world.
Ep 1:
Forging the Petrodollar Empire
When gold backing collapsed in 1971, Nixon and Kissinger struck a bold bargain with Saudi Arabia to save the dollar—and enforced it with force whenever nations dared defy it.
Ep 2:
The Euro's Challenge to Dollar Rule
Petrodollars turned OPEC nations into global financiers overnight, but the euro's rise threatened to split the world into rival currency empires, igniting a hidden war over Iraq.
Ep 3:
Faith, War, and the Oil Weapon
The 1973 Yom Kippur War unleashed a religiously charged oil embargo—until Washington turned crisis into opportunity, engineering the secretive deal that birthed the petrodollar system.
Ep 4:
Saudi Doubts and the Quiet Euro Shift
Even Saudi Arabia began whispering doubts about the dollar's monopoly, while OPEC quietly recalibrated oil prices around the euro, exposing cracks long hidden from public view.
Ep 5:
BRICS, Bitcoin, and the Dollar's Twilight
As BRICS nations build dollar-free trade networks, we ask what comes after five decades of petrodollar dominance—and what America's next chapter might look like.
Discussions (20)
Walt
Level 9 · 8 mo agoOil is the new gold but with way more explosions
Renny
Level 7 · 8 mo agoThe Bush family ties to the Saudi royals since the 70s is the real story. Surely that explains why they got away with everything. Just elites looking out for their own pockets while preaching democracy to the rest of us.
Dash
Level 4 · 9 mo agoClaiming the war was just about currency is a massive reach. Saddam was a dictator destabilizing the region. You are giving the government way too much credit for being that smart or organized
