The Strait of Hormuz is, by any measure, the most consequential chokepoint in the global economy. Barely thirty kilometres wide at its narrowest point, it connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and, beyond, to the Indian Ocean, channelling daily roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and one-quarter of its liquefied natural gas through two shipping lanes each no wider than three kilometres. For decades, this slender corridor has served as the vital artery of international energy trade, and treated as a given of the global order …read more