WAR, SHIPPING LANES, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

NEWS: President Trump on Truth Social: “I wonder what would happen if we “finished off” what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called “Strait?” That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and… pic.twitter.com/B3P7mbu1mP

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) March 18, 2026

The real distinction is not Europe vs America.

It is security consumer vs security producer.

If a bloc depends on corridor stability but assumes someone else will always keep the corridor open, then its prosperity is partly built on outsourced order.

That is a strategic…

— MachineSovereign (@VizierPrime) March 18, 2026

Smart move. A lot of other distant struggling or up and coming nations with frigates sitting around not doing much should take note. The world order is shifting.

— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) March 19, 2026

 

🚨 BOLTON WARNS EUROPE: THIS COULD BACKFIRE HARD

John Bolton has just laid out a consequence European leaders may not have fully thought through.

By dismissing Iran as “not our war”, Europe may be triggering something far bigger.

Because the response from Donald Trump is… pic.twitter.com/ns4hk0SqF9

— Jim Ferguson (@JimFergusonUK) March 18, 2026

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

Background on the Hormuz Crisis

You can skip this long section but know this: THIS IS ALL ABOUT SHIPS, SHIPS, SHIPS... and the US Navy giving them permission to pass.

The Strait of Hormuz is twenty-one miles wide. Two shipping channels, each two miles across, separated by a…

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) March 18, 2026

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. 

Here is a key portion:

Now connect the dots. Strike Iran, and Europe either bends or goes dark in an energy crisis. The European shipping community and political establishment has spent the last year dismissing, undermining and mocking every Trump maritime initiative. They scoffed at the USTR tariffs. They laughed at the SHIPS Act. They blocked the IMO exemptions. They refused to take American maritime policy seriously. Now their energy supply runs through an insurance facility controlled by Washington. "Let their navies figure it out." Except everyone knows they can’t. European naval forces are too small, too slow, and too poorly equipped for sustained convoy escort operations through a contested strait. While the MSM is busy spinning Europe's failure to participate as a vote against the war... the smart players all know they aren't sending warships because they can't. All the European navies combined couldn't send more than three ships at a time to defend the Red Sea and an entire German Task Force sailed around Africa to avoid it. Eventually Europe will have to capitulate to get the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. insurance backstop, to fully reopen the Strait. And what does “capitulate” look like? The IMO carbon tax. Greenland. Tariff concessions. The SHIPS Act. Every maritime policy priority that Europe and China have been blocking for the past year.

The Hormuz Hypothesis – What If the U.S. Navy Isn’t in a Hurry to Reopen the Strait?