The Straits Are Not OK
After Hormuz, global waterways will return to being sites of bloody contention.
The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global shipping lane, has been closed due to conflict between the United States and Iran. This situation has resulted in the death of 18 US service members and an unknown number of Iranian civilians and military personnel, costing tens of billions of dollars. Approximately 90% of traded goods are shipped by sea, making disruptions from wars over naval choke points highly impactful.
This current event has brought back a period similar to the 19th and early 20th centuries when Great Britain and the United States enforced the neutrality of major waterways. This artificial situation, now inherited by modern Americans, needed to be maintained. The US president's haphazard attacks on Iran have not only killed people and cost money, but have also reignited a historical pattern of brutal contention over global waterways.
Written by urgent.news from Foreign Policy's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
