'Coercion' fears include hijacking dollar dominance

There may be a thin line between 'transactional' and 'coercive', but U.S. international economic policies judged to have crossed it could weaken the foundations of the dollar's dominant role in international finance. Washington has long used its economic and financial heft to wring change out of countries it considers foes, but explicitly threatening its traditional allies is something very new. As trade and military fissures widen between the United States and its closest neighbors and G7 partners, the word 'coercion' is increasingly being used as reason for war-gaming other potentially extreme pressures from 'Uncle Sam'. The European Union was prepared…