The Strait of Hormuz was open to the world before the Iran war. Then came a conflict pushed into motion by the United States and Israel. In response, Iran moved to close or restrict the Strait. Now, the United States is calling upon the very same world to come together and help reopen it. If this is not insanity, what is?

But perhaps the deeper question is not whether this is insanity. Perhaps the real question is, what kind of world have we built where this appears normal? There is an old philosophical paradox, when the arsonist returns as the firefighter, does he become a saviour, or does the fire still belong to him? The present crisis around the Strait of Hormuz fits uncomfortably within this paradox. Power has not merely acted; it has acted in a way that dissolves the boundary between cause and cure.

For years, the Strait remained open under tension. Sanctions tightened, rhetoric sharpened, threats escalated, but the line was not crossed. There existed, however fragile, a silent understanding of limits. That understanding was not born of goodwill, but of mutual awareness, that some actions unleash consequences too vast to control. Yet history shows that power often tests limits not because it must, but because it can.

The United States and Israel, secure in military superiority, chose escalation in a region where equilibrium was already........

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