Most people know that the Strait of Hormuz is a strategic chokepoint. But many others that we forget about need protection. Jim Geraghty documents the danger in his article, “Strait Talk: The Threats to the World’s Waterways.”

There is also the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which is a Red Sea maritime chokepoint. It has become the biggest export route for Saudi Arabian oil since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Four other key waterways are the Strait of Malacca (between Malaysia and Indonesia), the Suez Canal (in Egypt), the Strait of Gibraltar (between Spain and Morocco), and the Panama Canal.

In the past, the U.S. Navy (according to its website) is patrolling the world to guarantee the freedom of the seas and freedom of navigation for all nations. Jim Geraghty says “under ‘America First,’ we negotiate a deal to ensure our ships travel through these chokepoints but leave the rest of the world to figure out how to protect their own ships.”

As I have mentioned in previous commentaries, the crisis at the Strait of Hormuz has precipitated an oil crisis and a fertilizer crisis, which will ultimately be a food crisis. Pirates and terrorists are seeing how one country can hold the world hostage and are looking to use other chokepoints to advance their economic or political agenda.

They are also seeing how such disruptions can be facilitated by using relatively inexpensive drones. Purchase several drones, fire them at cargo ships, watch prices soar, and then list your demands. This is why defense contractors are feverishly working to develop anti-drone technologies and signal jammers.

Threatening chokepoints on the world’s waterways has become a new phase of warfare.