How the Almighty Dollar Became America’s Greatest Weapon

Iran’s simultaneous efforts to harass shipping in the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, two of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints, constitute a form of economic warfare: although it employs drones and missiles, the aim isn’t to degrade American military capabilities or to seize territory, but to drive up prices for both the U.S. and its allies. Likewise, both the counterblockade in Hormuz and the Treasury Department’s Operation Economic Outcast—aimed to isolate the Islamic Republic from the global financial system—are attempts to strike back at the Iranian economy. So too, the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, and other countries (and someday, perhaps America too) are waging economic war on Israel.