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.

The Portfolio Model of Foreign Assistance

[caption id="attachment_55254345" align="aligncenter" width="900"] A young boy rests by empty USAID vegetable oil tins in the Dagahaley refugee camp which makes up part of the giant Dadaab refugee…

Majalla

Will Iran Become the Next North Korea?

[caption id="attachment_55254300" align="aligncenter" width="900"] A picture taken on August 20, 2010 shows an Iranian flag fluttering at an undisclosed location in the Islamic republic next to a…

Majalla

Will al Qaeda Make a Comeback?

[caption id="attachment_55254295" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Fighters from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front drive in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo flying Islamist flags as they…

Majalla

President Trump’s Syria Conundrum

[caption id="attachment_55254291" align="aligncenter" width="900"] US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in…

Majalla

Siemens’ Crimea Scandal

[caption id="attachment_55254232" align="aligncenter" width="900"] A man looks at electricity supply meters at a house in Simferopol on November 22, 2015. Crimea declared a state of emergency on…

Maia Otarashvili