Five months after the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran began, Council on Foreign Relations&#x27; Edward Fishman joins Leslie Vinjamuri to explain how strategic &quot;chokepoints&quot; — from the Strait of Hormuz to the US dollar — have become powerful tools of geopolitical competition. They discuss what makes a true chokepoint, why tariffs aren&#x27;t always effective, and how the United States can compete in a more fragmented global economy.

When The Global Economy Becomes a 'Weapon'

Deep Dish on Global Affairs

Six months after the United States and Israel launch strikes on Iran, the effort to secure a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz continues. And the ripple effects of the war are being felt across the entire global economy. What has this conflict taught us about the global economy? And how vulnerable are we to choke points? Today I'm joined by Edward Fishman, director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Geoeconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations.

I'm Leslie Vindjamori, president and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Welcome to Deep Dish. So my God, Eddie, boy, did you strike gold with your timing. I hope that you weren't sort of planting the seeds for Iran. But the book on choke points comes out, you know, a year and a half ago. And we're, what, six months into the war with Iran that has really come sharply into focus in the Strait of Hormuz.

So, you know, we've all been mulling over and kind of trying to decipher what is happening, who has leverage, what in the world is going on with this war in Iran and when it will end. And you have, I'm sure, a lot to say about this. But your framework, you know, for thinking about neoliberalism, globalization, increasingly open markets, everybody would get wealthier, more prosperous. No real talk about national security there. So what changed and why did it change?

So I think you're on to something, Leslie, that there is a structural shift happening. And I think the way to understand it is we embraced a fully globalized economy for the first time after the Cold War in the 1990s.

When The Global Economy Becomes a 'Weapon'

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

When The Global Economy Becomes a 'Weapon'

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.