International Finance and Money as a Security Tool

The movement of money—how it’s bought, sold, borrowed, loaned, and invested—creates opportunities to leverage world leaders, and, therefore, world events. We will explore the fundamentals of international finance, but with a particular interest in finding tools for national security. Like the free trade agreements, export controls, and import restrictions covered in the preceding chapters, international finance influences national security as well as the decision-makers whose choices make a difference in the global struggle for peace and security. The next few chapters will explain money and finances. We will cover topics one could address in several volumes; we will cover the knowledge necessary for the policy-maker and analyst, however, and not the academic. This will be international finance fundamentals as quick as possible, followed by real-world scenarios. As usual, throughout this book, the concepts will be covered so that the list of policy tools derivable is limited only by the creativity of the reader.