A European-led international mission and the Gulf Cooperation Council are trying to determine who will guarantee openness and stability in the strait once the Iran war ends—and how.
Is there any prospect for accountability when major powers ignore international law? Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and legal expert Louise Arbour answers.
"We are watching another unwelcome phenomenon return to the global stage: the world war," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Paul Poast argues in the New York Times.
While the Trump administration's proposed agreement would curtail Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, it would not touch the real drivers of the Islamic Republic’s power.
Thinking about Pakistan as a South Asian power misses the fact that it has regional connections to the Middle East—and global power connections it can leverage.
"It really puts Europe in a difficult position. On the one hand, they're frustrated that they've been left out in the cold for this entire operation," says Council Distinguished Nonresident Fellow Julianne Smith. "On the other hand, . . . they're also recognizing that they need the strait to be open."
The US-led postwar international order is being tested in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz and in the shrewd calculations of governments from New Delhi to Helsinki.
The widening conflict in the Middle East underscores the recurrent vulnerability of fossil fuel energy systems—and why a pivot to renewables is critical.
