The Geopolitical Economist · Maritime Affairs https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/issues/maritime Shipping, straits, ports, navies and the sea lanes trade depends on. en https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/assets/brand/icon-512.pngThe Geopolitical Economist · Maritime Affairshttps://geopoliticaleconomist.com/issues/maritime The Price Cap Didn't Stop Russian Oil. It Created a Toll Booth. https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/russian-oil-price-cap-shadow-fleet-toll-booth https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/russian-oil-price-cap-shadow-fleet-toll-booth Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo The price cap was meant to cut Russia's revenue while keeping its oil on the market. Its enforcement built a parallel shipping system whose costs are shared unevenly by exporters, shipowners, insurers, traders and refiners. Russia & Eurasia Europe The Sandals Gatekeepers: How a Houthi–Horn Axis Could Redraw Red Sea Power https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/sandals-gatekeepers-houthi-horn-axis-red-sea https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/sandals-gatekeepers-houthi-horn-axis-red-sea Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Frank Genin In September the Houthis stopped being an insurgency and became a landlord. With al Shabaab on the opposite shore, the Red Sea faces a dual chokepoint squeeze. Middle East & North Africa Africa The UAE Doesn't Buy Africa's Goods. It Buys the Gates. https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/uae-africa-ports-gold-gates https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/uae-africa-ports-gold-gates Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo Emirati influence in Africa is better measured by position than by pledges: ports, gold markets and farmland place the UAE at the points where African goods change jurisdiction or form. Africa Middle East & North Africa Egypt Didn't Fix Its Foreign Currency Problem. It Rented a Solution. https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/egypt-ras-el-hekma-suez-foreign-currency https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/egypt-ras-el-hekma-suez-foreign-currency Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo The $35 billion Ras El-Hekma deal with the UAE, not structural reform alone, most immediately eased Egypt's foreign-exchange crisis, arriving just as Houthi attacks collapsed Suez Canal revenue. Africa Middle East & North Africa Beyond Hormuz: How Saudi Arabia's Oil-Route Redundancy Is Being Tested https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/beyond-hormuz-saudi-oil-route-redundancy https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/beyond-hormuz-saudi-oil-route-redundancy Thu, 24 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Seif A. Harrasy The East-West pipeline gives Saudi Arabia an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, but when one route fails, the remaining routes can become new points of vulnerability. Middle East & North Africa The Last Way Around Hormuz Is Closed https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/the-last-way-around-hormuz-is-closed https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/the-last-way-around-hormuz-is-closed Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Vikas Drones launched from Iraq shut the pipeline that carried five million barrels a day past the strait. Brent is above $107, the ten-year Treasury is at 4.97%, and the Federal Reserve meets on Wednesday. Middle East & North Africa Americas Why Trump Can't End the Iran War After the Midterms https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/why-trump-cant-end-the-iran-war-after-the-midterms https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/why-trump-cant-end-the-iran-war-after-the-midterms Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Vikas The Vice President says by January 2029. The theory of how wars end says neither of them controls the date. Middle East & North Africa Americas America Is Bombing Its Own Bond Market https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/america-is-bombing-its-own-bond-market https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/america-is-bombing-its-own-bond-market Thu, 10 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Vikas Five Iranian tankers are burning, oil has crossed $100, and the U.S. Treasury is paying more than $1 trillion a year in interest. These three facts are one story. Middle East & North Africa Americas China Won’t Invade Taiwan. It Will Quarantine It. https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/china-wont-invade-taiwan https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/china-wont-invade-taiwan Mon, 07 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Vikas A blockade is an act of war. A quarantine is paperwork Indo-Pacific The U.S. Imported Iranian Oil While Bombing Iran https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/us-imported-iranian-oil https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/us-imported-iranian-oil Wed, 02 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Vikas For one month, a quiet Treasury licence made Iranian crude legal in American ports Middle East & North Africa Americas India-Pakistan: The Next Major War? https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/india-pakistan-the-next-major-war https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/india-pakistan-the-next-major-war Fri, 25 Apr 2025 06:00:00 +0000 Vikas 5 ways India can respond to the terrorist attack by Pakistan South Asia