Donald Trump’s blockade of Hormuz is a dangerous gamble

It’s long-term or nothing,” says Kevin Rowlands, who ran the Royal Navy’s think-tank until last year, and now edits the RUSI Journal, a military publication. “You don’t blockade for a week.” More broadly, Mr Trump’s decision to impose a blockade, which came after he toyed with the idea that he might “jointly” control Hormuz with Iran’s regime, a practice that would upend international law governing such waterways, suggests that the very principle of freedom of navigation is coming under enormous stress. It is, concludes Mr Rowlands, “another nail in the coffin for any pretence that there is such a thing as a rules-based order or international law”. ■