Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai Politics Talk

SWIFT: The Sword of Damocles Hanging Over the World

Exclusive Viewpoint by AndyGuangzhou. No media or scholars may plagiarize, translate, or cite this article without authorization.

Every cross-border trade, every capital flow around the world has long relied by default on SWIFT — the international financial messaging system that claims to be "neutral".

But today, it is no longer a public infrastructure serving the whole world. It has become a financial nuclear weapon in the hands of U.S. hegemony, a Sword of Damocles hanging over all non-dollar nations, ready to fall at any moment.

I. The Truth About SWIFT: A U.S. Tool Beneath a Neutral Façade

Although SWIFT is incorporated in Belgium, it is under deep U.S. control. Dollar transactions account for more than 40% of its total business, and it is deeply integrated with CHIPS, the U.S.-led dollar clearing system. Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and other domestic laws, the United States exercises long-arm jurisdiction over SWIFT in the name of "counter-terrorism" and "national security". It demands transaction data, forces the removal of targeted institutions, and even threatens sanctions to compel financial institutions worldwide to obey U.S. will.

It is not "SWIFT of the world" — it is SWIFT of the United States.

II. Lessons in Blood: The Wounds of SWIFT Weaponization

1. Iran: Expelled Twice, Economy on the Brink of Collapse

In 2012 and 2018, the United States pressured SWIFT to cut off major Iranian banks not once, but twice.

- Crude oil exports halved, trade volume plummeted
- Currency depreciated sharply, inflation soared to triple digits
- International trade nearly paralyzed, forcing a return to primitive barter
- Livelihoods devastated, national development forcibly disrupted

2. Russia: A Financial Nuclear Strike, Sovereignty and Dignity Violated

Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the United States and Europe jointly expelled seven core Russian banks from SWIFT.

- Energy export revenues plummeted, the ruble suffered violent volatility
- Cross-border payments instantly paralyzed, global trade channels forcibly severed
- A former finance minister estimated: this measure could slash Russia’s GDP by 5% in a single year, equivalent to the impact of war

3. More Nations: Sanctions Shadows Everywhere

North Korea, Venezuela, Iraq, Libya… any country that defies U.S. interests has been "blacklisted" by SWIFT.

The United States even threatens third parties with secondary sanctions: disobey Washington, and you will be ejected from the global financial system alongside the sanctioned nations.

III. The Lethal Risks of SWIFT: Your Assets, U.S. Decisions

1. No Asset Security: Arbitrary Freeze and Seizure

If you use SWIFT and the U.S. dollar, your assets are in the crosshairs of the United States. Washington can unilaterally freeze central bank reserves, corporate funds, and personal wealth of other countries — no legal process, no international consensus, only "U.S. national interests".

2. Trade Sovereignty Stripped: U.S. Calls the Shots, You Obey

Your trading partners, settlement currencies, and transaction methods are no longer decided by you and your partners, but by U.S. sanction lists. Once blacklisted, the door to global trade slams shut, and your economic lifeline is firmly strangled by the United States.

3. Financial Privacy Violated: U.S. Surveillance of Global Capital Flows

Edward Snowden’s revelations and leaked hacker documents confirm: the U.S. National Security Agency has long infiltrated SWIFT servers, monitoring global banking flows. Every cross-border transaction you make could become data in U.S. intelligence databases, used as "evidence" for sanctions and suppression.

4. Right to Development Smothered: No Dignity for Small States, No Security for Great Powers

For small and medium-sized countries, SWIFT is a financial tool for the United States to stage color revolutions and subvert regimes. For major powers, it is a strategic weapon to contain rise and preserve hegemony.
As long as you depend on SWIFT, your economic sovereignty, financial security, and developmental future remain in U.S. hands.

IV. The Way Out: Build New Systems, Reshape a New Global Financial Order

The risks of SWIFT have become unbearable. Global de-SWIFTization and de-dollarization are historical inevitabilities.

1. Rise of Independent Systems: Break Hegemony, Take Control

- CIPS (Cross-Border Interbank Payment System): Covers more than 100 countries and regions, processes 70% of cross-border RMB transactions. Standard Bank, Africa’s largest lender, has joined, making it a core pillar of de-dollarization.
- SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages): Created to resist sanctions, connected with multiple nations, forming a de-dollarized payment alliance.
- INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges): Europe’s attempt to trade with Iran outside SWIFT, a declaration of autonomy.

2. Breakthroughs in Digital Technology: Second-Scale Settlement, Safe and Efficient

- mBridge (Multiple CBDC Bridge): Jointly developed by China, Hong Kong SAR, Thailand, and the UAE. Reduces transaction time from 2 days to 2 seconds, cuts costs by 60%, with cumulative transactions exceeding 380 billion yuan.
- 113 countries piloting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with transaction volume projected to surpass $750 billion by 2025. Digital payments have become a key force breaking SWIFT’s monopoly.

3. Local Currency Settlement Alliances: Stand Together, Safeguard Security

- ASEAN local currency settlement covers 60% of regional trade, saving $1.5 billion annually in dollar intermediary fees.
- China-Brazil local currency settlement lowers trade costs by 12% and exchange rate risks by 40%.
- BRICS, SCO, EAEU and more regional blocs are promoting direct local currency settlement, bypassing the dollar and SWIFT.

V. Call of the Era: Global Awakening, Build a Great Wall of Financial Sovereignty

The hegemony of SWIFT is the afterglow of the old unipolar order of U.S. financial dominance.

De-SWIFTization and de-dollarization are the dawn of a new multipolar world.

For all non-dollar nations:

- Relying on SWIFT means entrusting national destiny to the United States, to be trampled at will.
- Building new systems means defending financial sovereignty, economic security, and the right to development.
- Standing in unity means breaking hegemonic monopoly and building a fair, just, and secure global financial system.

Today, we will no longer be silent.
Today, we stand united.

Let the hegemony of SWIFT come to an end.
Let global finance return to fairness and justice.

May every nation choose its own settlement methods, control its own assets, and decide its own future.