Edward Fishman: How the U.S. turned the global financial system into a potent weapon of war

Ex-State Department of Sanctions official Edward Fishman , author of new book on economic warfare, Choke Points , American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare.

Fishman : Economic warfare is how the US fights its most important geopolitical battles today .

He says the world economy has become a battlefield, and the world's superpowers are taking economic warfare to dangerous levels.

Donald Trump is trying to use tariffs as this cure all, almost a magic bullet to solve every possible problem.

Trump has talked a lot about tariffs being the most beautiful word in the English language.

The issue here is that tariffs are actually a weak tool if you're using it as a national security weapon.

The Iran sanctions have been so impactful, Ali says.

Sally Edward Fisherman was part of the team that designed the original sanctions after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 .

Fisherman: "We are living in an age of economic warfare, sanctions, tariffs, export controls. That's how countries compete today . It's how the US competes with things like the dollar, with advanced computer chip technology, but also how China increasingly wages war".