This chapter examines the interplay of geopolitical and economic dynamics amid the current global confrontation. It analyzes fierce competition over natural resources, strategic industries, and control of the global financial system, emphasizing the dollar’s central role and its militarization as tools of U.S. hegemony. Revisiting historical frameworks from Bretton Woods to the neoliberal era, the chapter shows how U.S. policies of financialization, offshoring, and deindustrialization have sustained massive public and external debt while undergirding a petrodollar system. It further scrutinizes the impact of Western sanctions on Russia, challenging dire predictions of collapse by highlighting Russia’s resilience through domestic production, abundant natural resources, and low public debt. Ultimately, the analysis contends that these intertwined military, economic, and financial forces are reshaping global power, potentially eroding the dollar’s “exorbitant privilege” and altering the international order.