(Note: The core theme of economic vulnerability and its strategic fallout builds upon the arguments I previously highlighted in my op-ed, “Economic weakness breeds geopolitical vulnerability,” published on 15 March 2026, in Pakistan Observer.)

GREAT geopolitical transformations rarely result from direct military conquest. More often, they unfold through quiet strategic leverage, drawing an adversary into a conflict that drains its economic vitality while the primary architect remains shielded from the fallout.

In the contemporary Middle East, escalating instability around critical maritime corridors, most notably the Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb, is widely framed as a direct confrontation between the United States, Israel and the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance.” However, a deeper examination of the region’s political economy reveals a far more calculated dynamic. An asymmetric trap designed to erode the economic foundations of the Gulf States,........

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