GSS2026: The future of the US dollar in a changing global monetary order

Experts debated growing doubts over the US dollar’s future role and prospects for a multipolar monetary system.

At the Global Solutions Summit, held from 1–2 June 2026 in Berlin, Dr Kathrin Berensmann joined Antonio Villafranca, Director of Research, Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), and Richard Samans, Senior Fellow, Brookings, in a session to discuss the evolving role of the US dollar in the global financial system and the prospects for a more multipolar monetary order.

For decades, the United States has underpinned the international financial system through the dominance of the US dollar. The dollar serves multiple interconnected functions: it is the leading reserve, anchor, and transaction currency, as well as the principal unit of account.

However, two developments increasingly call the sustainability of this role into question. First, rising public debt and concerns about the resilience of the United States‘ economic and political institutions have raised doubts about the country’s ability to continue providing the world’s primary safe asset. Second, the relative economic weight of the United States has declined due to the rapid growth of emerging economies.

The session also explored the next phase of (de)globalisation and the possible transition to a more multipolar monetary system. In such a system, the US dollar could increasingly be complemented – or challenged – by other international currencies, including the euro, the yen, and the renminbi, as well as by new forms of regional financial cooperation. Examples include regional liquidity arrangements, such as the Chiang Mai Initiative in Asia, and the development of liquidity pools in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America that could reduce dependence on US dollar swap lines. In addition, over the past five years, gold has partly substituted for the U.S. dollar as a reserve asset.