• Prioritizing Multilateral Law Over Might International law and multilateral cooperation must serve as the foundation for global security rather than unilateral military force. The swift international opposition to the proposed 20 percent transit fee—with the UN's International Maritime Organization declaring there was no legal basis for charging tolls through international straits—demonstrates that unilateral economic coercion undermines global legal norms. Bypassing established frameworks only alienates international allies and erodes the legitimacy of maritime governance.
• Exposing the Human and Economic Toll Military escalation inevitably inflicts severe humanitarian and economic damage that outweighs short-term strategic gains. With approximately 12 crew members dead, missing, or injured from targeted commercial vessels and transit through the crucial Strait of Hormuz falling by 90 percent, the resumption of the naval blockade has paralyzed maritime commerce rather than securing it. This massive disruption proves that aggressive military posturing destabilizes vital trade corridors and endangers civilian lives.
• Fearing the Cycle of Endless Escalation Threatening to expand military strikes to target civilian infrastructure like power plants and bridges risks sparking a catastrophic regional war. The fact that Iran launched retaliatory drones and missiles targeting Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait illustrates how quickly unilateral actions can drag regional neighbors into a wider conflict. True security cannot be achieved through threats of destruction, which only harden adversary resolve and close off viable diplomatic pathways to peace.
How it may affect me
As a U.S. reader:
• You may experience the indirect effects of a 90 percent reduction in shipping transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global trade corridor that historically carries 20 percent of the world's oil.
• You will not face the immediate domestic price increases associated with a proposed 20 percent cargo transit fee in the region, as the U.S. administration withdrew the proposal in favor of pursuing trade and investment agreements with Gulf states.
• You may see long-term shifts in international trade and investment if Gulf nations, such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, officially agree to new bilateral trade pacts with the U.S. to replace the scrapped transit fee.
• You face the potential risk of a wider regional conflict that could draw in U.S. forces, as the U.S. threatens to expand military strikes to Iranian civilian infrastructure and regional allies like Bahrain and Jordan face retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran.