Straits Under Tension: “Their” Toll, Our Global Crisis

An invisible balance holding the world together

Claiming that what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz is not “our war” reflects a lack of lucidity and courage among leaders who refuse to face reality. Nothing has been done to neutralize this regime for 47 years, and the day the United States intervenes, a tantrum follows. Not only have we remained passive, but because we were not informed, we look the other way. It has become a habit when one does not want—or is unable—to assume responsibility.

Pretending to consolidate peace and stability after the United States might have succeeded in securing peace borders on fantasy. France had its moment of glory, trying to be holier than thou. We see where that has led today: coffers emptier than empty. It will be too late. The time is now. Claiming there is no need to intervene is a serious mistake. What follows offers a glimpse of the price to be paid if and when the guns fall silent.

In case our memory fails us

The previous century also experienced a crisis of courage and lucidity. When Daladier and Chamberlain returned from Munich after meeting the Führer on September 29, 1938, they were welcomed as heroes. They had saved peace. We know what came next: war was declared on September 3, 1939.

Global trade operates on a principle as simple as it is essential: freedom of maritime navigation. This principle is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed in Montego Bay in 1982, which establishes that in straits used for international navigation, passage must be free, continuous, and unobstructed.

This legal framework is not an abstraction. It is the very condition of contemporary globalization. More than 80% of global trade by volume moves by sea. Yet these flows do not travel across an open and homogeneous........

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