Securing the Arteries of Global Trade: US Foreign Policy in the Strait of Hormuz

Abstract

At the start of 2026, the maritime security situation in the Persian Gulf had reached a historic grey-zone tipping point, moving from friction to high-intensity conflict between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran (IR Iran) that have been decades in the making. This research report examines the multi-faceted character of the Strait of Hormuz as the most vital energy chokepoint in the world, through which approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day and almost 2/5 of the world's liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes. On 28 Feb 2026, the waterway was effectively shut down after a massive operation involving the U.S. and Israel known as Operation Epic Fury triggered several days of violence. On 28 Feb 2026, the U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury sparked a series of violent days, effectively shutting down the waterway and causing a world fuel crisis that engendered a fundamental reassessment of the Carter Doctrine. The discussion also explores the legal realities of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) against customary regimes of innocent passage, and offers the conclusion that the current crisis has accelerated a permanent shift towards a new security regime of ‘mini-lateral alignments’ and ‘alternative bypasses’. In the end, this report demonstrates the inadequacy of maritime coercion in a technological proliferation and economic interdependence world, as U.S. military power is beyond measure when it comes to reducing conventional threats.

Keywords:

Strait of Hormuz, US Foreign Policy, Maritime Security, Energy Geopolitics, Asymmetric Warfare, 2026 Iran War, UNCLOS.