Kerry Bolton, Rise of the Dollar Empire: How America Dethroned Europe (Antelope Hill, 2026). Book review: US policy, Wall Street, the UN, and the end of European empires in Asia and Africa.

Follow the money. History rhymes. In this conversation with Antelope Hill’s marketing director, Taylor, we lay out the overarching themes of the book and compare them to the modern day.

The usual story says African and Asian independence was self-liberation, or that Moscow directed the collapse of British, French, Dutch, Belgian, and Portuguese rule. Bolton argues the opposite. He says the European empires were closed trading blocs that blocked dollar-centered export capitalism, that World War II left Europe indebted to Washington, and that US policy, Wall Street, foundations, and the UN used anti-colonial language to replace those empires with an  ...