Was the US invasion of Iraq due to the Petrodollar standard being threatened by Saddam Hussein and does the Petrodollar standard still play a major role in the strength of the US dollar today

Question

I wanted to know whether this is true or was it just a conspiracy.

In: Economics

Answer 1

1. Oil is the most traded commodity worldwide. Petrodollar ensures that the dollar is the currency for international trade, even between two countries that otherwise do not use the dollar. That means everyone else has to export something to earn the dollar. The US simply has to print it. So yes, petrodollar is still very important for the US.

2. International relations are very complex, and there may be other reasons for the invasion of Iraq. But based only on what is publicly known, it’s likely that protecting the petrodollar was the primary reason. Any major oil-producing country that does not accept the dollar is undermining the petrodollar.