Suez to Hormuz, how chokepoints shape balance of power

Why in the News

Blockades of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait by the Houthis have triggered a major global energy crisis. Control of such narrow sea routes has repeatedly reordered the global balance of power, and the crisis may let India help shape a new order.

What are chokepoints, and why have they decided the fate of powers?

1. What it is: A maritime chokepoint is a narrow sea route that whoever holds the nearby land can control or close, like a toll gate on a highway.
2. Bosporus and Athens: In the Peloponnesian War of the fifth century BCE, Sparta seized the Bosporus, Athens’ lifeline for food and supplies. Athens then collapsed.
3. Constantinople to the Ottomans: Roman emperor Constantine later built his capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul), on the same waterway. After a millennium of Roman rule, the Ottomans took it and held the Bosporus until World War I.
4. The takeaway: Whoever controls a chokepoint controls the trade through it, and that has repeatedly decided which power rises or falls.

How did the Suez crisis turn a chokepoint into a weapon of trade?

1. Trade as coercion: After World War II, countries built international institutions to regulate the world economy. Trade soon became a tool of pressure, especially for the United States.
2. Nationalisation: In 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, taking it from its British and French stakeholders.
3. Eisenhower’s intervention: After a brief conflict, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower stepped in and the European powers backed off. Egypt has controlled the canal ever since.
4. Shift in power: The crisis marked the decline of Britain and France as global powers and the rise of US-USSR bipolarity, a world split between two superpowers.

Did globalisation end political control of trade?

1. Wriston’s prediction: In his 1992 book *The Twilight of Sovereignty*, American financier Walter Wriston predicted that global finance and information technology would make national governments obsolete.
2. Politics returns: The prediction held for about two decades. Political leaders then took back control of trade, and chokepoints became their lever.
3. Current disruption: Since the Russia-Ukraine war of 2022 and last year’s US-Iran conflict, blocked chokepoints have threatened the world economy.

Can India shape the order that follows?

1. De Gaulle’s answer to Suez: Suez brought Charles de Gaulle back to power in France. Rejecting Cold War dominance by Washington and Moscow, he called for a “Third Force” aligned with neither.
2. Europe des Patries: De Gaulle wanted Europe “from the Atlantic to the Urals” to speak with one voice, as a “Europe des Patries” (Europe of the Fatherlands). He fell short but gave France an independent foreign policy.
3. India’s call for a new order: The Prime Minister says global institutions failed to make room for new powers. On a G20-related occasion, he sought “a new world order for the collective wellbeing of humankind”.
4. India’s opportunity: On this view, the Prime Minister’s global stature lets India succeed fully where de Gaulle succeeded only partly.

Challenges

1. Energy exposure: India imports about 85% of its crude oil, so a Gulf blockade quickly raises its import bill.
2. Institutional lag: Because global institutions lag behind new powers, no forum can quickly end a chokepoint crisis.
3. Ambition versus capacity: De Gaulle’s partial success shows that shaping a world order needs economic and naval strength, not only intent.

Way Forward

1. Diversified supply: Spread oil and gas imports across more suppliers and routes than a single strait.
2. Strategic reserves: The Union government should expand strategic petroleum reserves to cover longer disruptions.
3. Reformed multilateralism: Use the G20 and United Nations to press for institutions that reflect new powers.

Conclusion

The present blockades show how fast control of narrow sea routes can shake the world economy. India’s claim to a larger role rests on cutting its own exposure to these routes, not on stature alone.

About Maritime Chokepoints

1. Strait of Hormuz: Iran holds its northern shore and Oman its southern entrance. About 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade passes through it.
2. Bab-el-Mandeb: The Houthis control its Yemeni shore de facto. It is the only southern gateway to the Suez Canal and carries about 8.7% of global trade.
3. Suez Canal: Egypt is its sole sovereign and collects all tolls. It carries about 12% of global maritime commerce.
4. Strait of Malacca: Singapore dominates its eastern entrance. It carries 23.7% of global seaborne trade and 80% of China’s energy imports.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026] Ships from which of the following countries have to cross the Strait of Hormuz to reach out to the Indian Ocean? 1. Bahrain 2. Syria 3. Qatar 4. Egypt (a) 1 and 2 (b) 1 and 3 (c) 2 and 3 (d) 3 and 4 ANSWER: B”