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Transnational Thursday for March 19, 2026

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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I think you're right about the big picture. I guess what I am suggesting is that the blockade is still annoying for the targeted countries/corporations because it means they will still have to rearrange their imports. And oil is carried by ships that take weeks to reach their destinations, so figuring that out is non-trivial. It probably imposes marginal costs on countries like the UK at the cost of, what, a strongly worded tweet? Maybe firing off a few missiles to show they meant business?

And as a demonstration of capability, that's not nothing. The message you're sending is "look how you're having to scramble now when things are merely annoying! All we did was send a tweet! Imagine what it will be if we actually completely closed the strait." It's trying to send a message that you could increase the pain a lot if you wanted.

Btw, I'm not the one downvoting you.

Oh, thanks.