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.

Reading Xi Jinping

[caption id="attachment_55254045" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Xi Jinping[/caption] The Link Between His Economic Policies and Censorship by Weifeng Zhong In preparation for the Chinese…

Majalla

Merkel's Next Challenge

[caption id="attachment_55254051" align="aligncenter" width="970"] French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hamburg, Germany, July 2017.  […

Majalla

Hezbollah’s Refugee Quandary

[caption id="attachment_55254014" align="aligncenter" width="900"] MAJDAL ANJAR, LEBANON - NOVEMBER 12: A displaced Syrian child is viewedin a makeshift camp for Syrian refugees only miles from the…

Majalla

Turkey's Patchwork Foreign Policy

Between Islamism and Pragmatism [caption id="attachment_55254000" align="aligncenter" width="1758"] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin…

Majalla

Rebooting American Foreign Policy

Where to Go From Here * The greatest threat to U.S. national security is North Korea’s accelerating nuclear and missile programs *The two countries’ economic integration gives both Washington and…

Majalla

ISIS After Mosul

What Does the Future Hold? * Everything else will be a mop up operation in terms of denying them control of territory. The claim of the caliphate at that point is shattered * With almost no…

Majalla