The story of 'dollar backed by petrol' is fiction. Petrodollar exists as much as a corndollar exists. The dollar is US Treasury debt.

When was the last time the US invaded a country in false pretenses for trading corn in another currency?

The US claimed to invade Iraq because they were holding WMD.

US led NATO forces claimed to liberate Libya because, checks notes, they were mistreating rebels in a “civil war” orchestrated by the CIA.

Yet both Iraq and Libya had the nerve to try and trade their oil in currencies other than USD. Coincidence?

I don't recall Vietnam or Laos trading much of anything before USA invaded.

How about militarydollar or imperialismdollar or neocondollar.

Check you timelines.

Per Investopedia the petrodollar system was established in the mid-1970’s [0]

Per Wikipedia, the Vietnam war lasted from 1951-1975 and Laos from 1959-1975 [1]

In any case the argument wasn’t that the US only invades countries that try to sell oil in currencies other than USD.

It was that anytime a country tries to sell oil in a currency other than USD they automatically become enemies of the US and get invaded.

> How about militarydollar or imperialismdollar or neocondollar.

I think all those labels are also appropriate now that the Petrodollar system seems to be collapsing with Saudi Arabia, China, Russia and India all exploring the possibility of trading oil outside the dollar.

[0] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/petrodollars.asp

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

> anytime a country tries to sell oil in a currency other than USD they automatically become enemies of the US and get invaded.

I agree. It's not a good look for self-proclaimed democracy heroes. Saddam was our friend, until he wasn't.

Current batch of neocons are splitting the world for endless cold war spending.

If I follow your train of logic, why does Russia carry USD reserves?

Currencies are used to facilitate settlement of international trade. Trade in various goods and services.

Central banks often carry reserves of various currencies to help with those international settlements and to manipulate currency values.

I see now -- the specific label of petro is wrong, but the general idea that the hegemonic control of critical commodities -> currency control is not then? And saying petrodollar would be like saying porkyuen or semiconductoryuen or something similar

That label was descriptive for a time. The times have changed, and now it's might makes right.