The Economics Show The global economy is Iran’s hostage. Can it be released? With Edward Fishman
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Mar 27, 2026 
Edward Fishman, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Chokepoints, explains how Iran’s moves at the Strait of Hormuz ripple through global markets. He contrasts geographic chokepoints with economic ones like rare earths and the dollar. He explores asymmetry in weaponized choke points, secondary risks such as fertilizer and helium, and hard choices between negotiation and escalation.
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Psychological Blockade Can Be Cheaper Than Physical One
- Iran managed a psychological blockade rather than a costly physical one, keeping its own exports flowing while others were deterred.
- That lower-cost approach let Iran harm rivals' sales without needing thousands of mines or full physical closure.
Geographic Chokepoints Require War While Economic Ones Work In Peacetime
- Geographic chokepoints require wartime action to weaponize, unlike economic chokepoints such as the dollar or rare earths that work in peacetime.
- This difference makes peacetime economic levers (finance, minerals) more durable tools of coercion.
Energy Shock Could Unintentionally Boost Chinese Geoeconomic Leverage
- The crisis will accelerate global clean energy transition, which could strengthen China's leverage if it dominates clean-tech supply chains.
- Fishman warns that faster adoption of EVs, batteries and solar benefits China geopolitically.
