The Oil Report

The Oil Report

In Focus: Gunboat Diplomacy & The Strait of Hormuz

A compact history of U.S. gunboat diplomacy and its application in The Middle East.

Feb 08, 2026
∙ Paid

Summary

The blueprint for gunboat diplomacy runs from Perry to the post-1946 U.S. mandate of forward naval presence to secure oil flows and contain rival powers. Hormuz remains a potent disruption lever for Iran, but outright closure isn’t realistic. The real risk is asymmetric, multi-domain disruption that drives volatility rather than sustained supply …

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