The Strait of Hormuz—a narrow waterway linking the Arabian Gulf to the wider world—is proving a critical link in the global economic order, and especially crucial to global energy security, with around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passing through this maritime choke point.

With the Strait being effectively closed “to its enemies” by Tehran amid a war launched on Iran by the US and Israel, Al Majalla chose, Strait of Hormuz: the waterway critical to global trade as the topic for this week’s cover story. The latest war has reminded the world of the fragility of its few maritime passageways.

Rivalry in the Horn of Africa

Is the Red Sea moving toward an ordered space governed by capable states or toward a grey zone edging toward disorder? Read our February cover story to find out.

Al Majalla - London