Bab el-Mandeb and the coming age of chokepoint warfare

The waters of the Bab el-Mandeb are running red with the blood of a failing international order. For the first time in modern history, two of the world’s most vital maritime chokepoints—the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb—are under simultaneous, sustained assault. This is not merely a crisis; this is the unravelling of the post-war maritime consensus, and the world is watching with paralysis as a new form of warfare exposes the hollow core of our strategic doctrines. Consider the mathematics of catastrophe. Before the conflict, roughly 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products passed through the Strait…