Let’s talk about chokepoints.
Apparently, the world decided to route 80% of global trade through a handful of suspiciously narrow gaps in the geography.
Like our bodily systems, when things are running smoothly, we don’t think about them individually all that much.
We rarely wake up thinking, “I’m so glad my airway is open and my arteries are capable of blood flow!” (Although maybe we should.) But, if something cuts off a critical pathway, like our esophagus, it doesn’t take long to feel the pain.
Now, due to geopolitical incidents, the Strait of Hormuz is getting a lot of love from the media, politicians, dinner tables, and watercoolers. So let’s dive into some under-loved chokepoints around the world and see where we’ve got some potential trouble brewing.
Did you know that chokepoints come in lots of fun flavors? If you did, good for you. If not, here’s a cheat sheet for your next dinner party or office conversation.
Chokepoints can be broadly grouped into nature-made and human-made options. (Or alien-made if you’re into that kinda thing.)
Geographic
Maritime straits
These are our natural geographic features: narrow bodies of water between two landmasses.
Nobody built them; plate tectonics just happened to leave an inconveniently small gap between countries. Because they're natural, they fall under international maritime law (specifically UNCLOS), which theoretically guarantees "transit passage" rights to all vessels.
The catch is that the bordering nations still control enforcement (neat, right?), and a country like Iran or Turkey can make that passage very uncomfortable, very quickly, whether through military presence, mining, or simply saying "no" and daring someone to argue about it. (We call the daring and arguing part “politics” in case you were curious.)
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adopted in 1982 and in force since 1994, is the comprehensive international legal framework governing all ocean space, maritime resources, and maritime zones. It defines rights for coastal states and maritime navigation, including the 12-mile territorial sea and 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Canals
Canals are the man-made version of the same idea: humans looked at a map, decided nature was being inefficient, and dug a shortcut.
The key difference from straits is that a single sovereign nation owns and operates them outright, with no international law obligation to let anyone through.
Egypt can close the Suez Canal whenever it wants.
Panama can and does restrict traffic during droughts.
Canals are also physically vulnerable in ways straits aren't. A canal is a concrete and steel infrastructure project that can be damaged, blocked (as a certain container ship demonstrated in 2021—we’re looking at you, Ever Given), or simply run out of water. If you’re wondering how often that happens, check out this post on major canals and their myriad woes.
Land corridors
Land corridors work on the same principle but for overland trade: roads, rail lines, and mountain passes that happen to be the only practical route between two regions.
The Khyber Pass is just a mountain gap.
The Trans-Siberian Railway is an infrastructure network.
What they share is that land corridors are almost always under the complete control of the nation they pass through, with zero international right of passage. Russia proved this definitively when it weaponized its rail corridors after 2022.
Yes, I realize that the examples for land corridors include human-made elements… just go with it.
Infrastructure
Air hubs
Air hubs are a deliberate investment in infrastructure and face different threat styles from our geo-based friends.
Disruptions like pandemics, conflict, extreme weather, or labor issues can send ripples through the global supply chain. Specifically vulnerable: time-sensitive goods like pharmaceuticals, electronics, and perishables.
Digital/undersea cable routes
The underappreciated, and unseen, infrastructure chokepoint is digital undersea cable.
Around 95% of all international internet traffic, including the financial transactions underpinning our global trade, runs through the physical cables on the ocean floor.
While they’re a critical part of our supply chain and global economic systems, they’re largely unprotected. They run through international waters and can be severed by a ship anchor, an earthquake, or a submarine. (Or a mega-shark.)
They do follow a similar geographic logic to maritime routes, clustering near coastlines and straits. Unlike a blocked canal or closed maritime strait, a cut cable isn’t always obvious right away, making attributing deliberate cable sabotage extremely difficult. (Don’t get any ideas.)
Energy pipelines
Energy pipelines are in their own category because they carry a single commodity under continuous pressure, so they’re a magical (I mean disastrous) combination of critical and brittle. A maritime strait can be rerouted around at significant cost; a pipeline either works or it doesn't. They also tend to create long-term political dependency–the kind of political dependency that is complex, especially when mingled with administration or regime changes. Europe's decades-long reliance on Russian gas via pipeline infrastructure is the textbook example of how a chokepoint becomes a geopolitical lever.
We get to enjoy a spectrum of strategic chokepoints, with varying levels of access, aggravation, and defense. Natural straits are harder to permanently close but easier to harass; canals and pipelines are easier to control but also easier to damage; digital cables are the most fragile and the least defended.
Turn page for more chokepoint horror
Still here and wanting more potentially depressing news? Me too. Let’s dig into the who’s who of strategic chokepoints.