According to CNN's world business page, Iran has stopped accepting US dollars for oil trades and is pressuring other OPEC members to do the same. Iran has completely switched over to euros and yens for its oil exports.
This choice could demonstrate the continued salience of cultural conflict and the fragmentation effects of globalization. Rather than uniting Iran and the US, Iran's oil exports have been made into a tool to coerce the US into changing its policy regarding Iran's nuclear development and support for terrorist organizations. This sort of soft balancing could be the result of strategic interests or conflicting ideologies. In either case, the effects of globalization could have led to an increased awareness of the other nation's "outsider" status and cultural differences, causing boundary activation and an attempt to exclude the other's culture.
The dominance of economic interests over traditional political balancing could also be implied by the change of currency. If Saudia Arabia and other OPEC member nations who are US allies or neutral also choose to make the switch, it will be clear that they are reacting to a changing economy and protecting their economic interests rather than protecting their security interests by maintaining an alliance with the US.
The switch from dollars to euros and yens also demonstrates America's decline as a hegemonic power, at least in an economic sense. As the European Union's market grows and the United States' growth rate declines (especially with the onset of another recession), America will become a less vital actor in world trade and will lose influence that can be exploited by economically stronger entities through embargoes, exclusive trade deals, or foreign aid.
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