Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at international efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s coast, and Armenia having to choose between Russia and the European Union.

The United Kingdom hosted virtual talks on Thursday focused on forming a coalition to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Representatives from more than 40 countries attended, highlighting what British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called “the strength of our international determination” to secure the strategic waterway.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at international efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s coast, and Armenia having to choose between Russia and the European Union.

The United Kingdom hosted virtual talks on Thursday focused on forming a coalition to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Representatives from more than 40 countries attended, highlighting what British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called “the strength of our international determination” to secure the strategic waterway.

Yet, one empty chair loomed large over the meeting. The United States was notably absent from Thursday’s talks, after U.S. President Donald Trump argued that it was the responsibility of other countries that rely more on the strait to resolve the issue. “Go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves,” Trump said during a nationwide address late Wednesday. “Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.”

Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, Iranian forces have taken effective control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil normally transits. At least 23 direct Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf have been recorded thus far, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a shipping data firm. Such insecurity has sparked an unprecedented disruption to global energy flows, causing oil and gas prices to soar and depleting fuel stocks around the world.

Trump has repeatedly urged European countries to deploy their militaries to the region to help reopen the strait. But the United States’ Western allies have resisted getting........

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