Tag: GlobalTrade
Maritime Trade Enters the Age of Armed Passage
The modern maritime order is designed to separate a ship's right of passage from the nationality of its owner, the origin of its cargo and the political allegiance of its customer. Across several of the world's most important sea lanes, that separation is beginning to break down.Iran is seeking payments…
How Sanctions Created a Parallel Maritime System
What began in 2022 as a workaround to Western sanctions has evolved into one of the most important pieces of strategic infrastructure in the modern global economy. Russia depends on it to finance its war in Ukraine. Iran relies on comparable networks, built over decades of sanctions, to keep exporting…
How Commercial Shipping Became a Battlefield
Every incident involving a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz now sends shockwaves far beyond the Gulf. But those shockwaves are no longer merely a byproduct of military confrontation – they are increasingly part of the objective. The June truce between Washington and Tehran collapsed this month, and the…
Houthis May Soon Close Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Yemeni Houthis have said they could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the coming days, threatening a second major chokepoint alongside Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.A member of the Houthi-aligned Ansar Allah movement's political bureau, Mohammed al-Farah, said the group intends to close Bab el-Mandeb in tandem with…
Hormuz Stays Open as Security Risks Disrupt Global Shipping
Iran has not issued a formal decree closing the Strait of Hormuz, but the distinction between "open" and "closed" is becoming increasingly misleading. Tracking data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) indicate that commercial traffic through the strait has yet to recover to pre-conflict levels, while…
