AI Summary
5 min readThe weaponisation of trade
The Strait of Hormuz carries about 20% of the world's oil and 20% of its liquefied natural gas on any given day. When Iran closed it in early 2025 using drones and missiles against commercial vessels rather than the sea mines military planners had long expected, the global economy discovered just how quickly a theoretical vulnerability can become a real one. Edward Fishman, author of Choke Points and director of the Centre for GeoEconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that this episode is not an exception but a harbinger — and that the weaponisation of economic choke points is restructuring the entire fabric of the global economy.
How Iran turned a waterway into a weapon
Iran's method for closing the Strait of Hormuz confounded US military planners. Rather than deploying sea mines that would have made the waterway physically impassable for everyone — including Iranian vessels — Iran struck a small handful of ships. That was enough to reshape the risk calculus of the entire shipping industry. As Fishman puts it, Iran gave itself the ability to say: "Your ship gets through, yours doesn't."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction: The Central Thesis** - Host Gideon Rachman introduces the topic of economic choke points and his guest, Edward Fishman, author of *Choke Points*.
- 2 (01:37) **The Strait of Hormuz: A Live Case Study** - Fishman explains why the Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important geographic choke point and how its weaponization is playing out.
- 3 (03:41) **Kinetic vs. Economic Warfare** - Fishman distinguishes between the use of military force and economic coercion at choke points.
- 4 (06:46) **The Limits of Sanctions: The Iran Case** - Fishman explains how the U.S. strategy of using economic choke points against Iran evolved and ultimately failed.
- 5 (08:17) **Why Choke Points Matter Now** - Fishman explains the historical and structural reasons for the rise of economic choke points in the 21st century.
- 6 (10:20) **The Secular Trend of Economic Warfare** - Fishman identifies a structural, exponential increase in the use of economic weapons.
- 7 (11:58) **The Dangerous Lure of Autarky** - The conversation turns to the costs and risks of countries trying to become self-sufficient.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Tariffs, sanctions and chokepoints have become the weapon of choice to punish political rivals - but what happens when these fail? Gideon discusses the impact of geopolitical disputes on global trade with Edward Fishman, author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. Clip: Al Jazeera
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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Sean McGarrity.
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