The current reality of world politics has brought us face to face with a brutal truth. In this reality, war in a particular region does not mean war only in that region - rather, it takes the form of a war for the whole world. As far as it can be said, war is not limited to borders; the impact or impact of war spreads like a wave to the economy, society and daily life of ordinary people thousands of miles away.
The threat of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been created by the conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States in the Middle East, is not merely a regional military tension; rather, it is exposing the inherent weaknesses of the global energy system and the ruthless nature of imperialist geopolitics.
Imperialism once meant visible conquest, territorial conquest, flag-raising, military deployment, and colony-building. The British Empire ruled India directly, the French divided Africa on maps, and America extended its influence through military bases and alliance politics in the 20th century. But the imperial politics of the 21st century is no longer so visible; it is much more subtle, complex, and structured.
Today, empires not only occupy territory, but also establish control over energy, technology, sea routes, financial institutions, information flows and supply chains. Recent global analyses show that the center of world power is now shifting away from visible hegemony towards 'chokepoints' and infrastructural control. The narrow straits of Hormuz, Suez, Bab-el-Mandeb, Malacca have become the nervous system of the new empire.
The first pillar of imperial politics in the modern world is energy dominance. Middle Eastern oil, Russian gas, African minerals, and South American lithium-these are not just natural resources; they are weapons of geopolitical power. Instead of direct conquest, powerful states today adopt strategies that keep the energy pipelines within their strategic influence.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world's oil and a large portion of LNG flows, can shake global markets, demonstrating that empires today are not just determined by military might, but also by the reality of who controls which sea lanes.
The second pillar is economic imperialism. The World Bank, IMF, SWIFT, dollar-based trade, sanctions, sovereign debt - these are the cannons and warships of the modern era. If a state goes against a great power in principle, there may not be a direct war against it. But its banking channels may be closed, dollar transactions may be blocked, and the economy may stagnate under the pressure of loan installments. In other words, modern imperialism 'rules' through markets, currencies, and credit. Instead of the roar of weapons, the silent sounds of the bond market, interest rates, and reserve crisis are heard here.
The third pillar is technology and information imperialism. In today's world, data is the new oil. Control of artificial intelligence, semiconductors, 5G networks, cloud infrastructure, cyber surveillance - these are now the focus of new geopolitical competition.
The US-China rivalry is no longer just military; it is a battle over chip supply chains, AI governance, standards-setting and digital sovereignty. Empires can now control the flow of information, influencing human behavior, the economy and even security. Recent research is calling this 'weaponized interdependence' - interdependence itself has become a kind of strategic weapon.
The fourth pillar is control of sea routes and supply chains. As vast as modern globalization appears, it is actually built on a few narrow corridors. Control of these chokepoints-the Straits of Hormuz, the Suez, Malacca, and the Red Sea-means the ability to strangle world trade.
The major powers are therefore increasing their influence over ports, islands, naval bases, submarine cable landing sites, rail corridors, dry ports, instead of directly over land. This silent imperial chess game is going on everywhere, in the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea.
Most importantly, this new imperial politics is not as unipolar as it used to be. The world has now entered a kind of fragmented multipolarity, where the United States is still strong. But China is in technology and trade, Russia is in security and energy, Europe is in normative power, India is in Indian Ocean security, and regional powers are exerting influence in their own spheres.
That is, empires are no longer run from a single capital; rather, a new world order is being built on competition, cooperation, proxy wars, economic blocs, and technological standards among multiple power centers. The imperial politics of the modern world can no longer be drawn on maps; it is drawn in oil pipelines, chip factories, narrow lanes of sea lanes, and the invisible wires of international banking networks. Today's empires don't fly flags-they control the flow, the flow of oil, dollars, data, technology, food, and trade.
The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, is one of the world's most important and strategic waterways. This narrow waterway is the world's busiest oil shipping channel, with about a fifth of global oil and gas shipped through it every day. But it would be a mistake to view it as just a source of energy transport.
The Strait of Hormuz is also a vital corridor for transporting fertilizers, food, and agricultural equipment. The impact of disruptions to the flow of goods through this waterway is not limited to petrol pumps. It also impacts grain markets, ship charters, and insurance premiums, ultimately impacting the dining tables of ordinary people.
The ongoing war between Iran, Israel, and the United States and the resulting military tensions in the Middle East have quickly escalated into an economic crisis. The blockade of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has caused a massive increase in oil prices.
Recently, tensions have risen around the world as Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US attacks on nuclear facilities. Even a minor disruption here can destabilize energy prices in the global market, and the waves of that instability will hit import-dependent developing economies, including Bangladesh, first. Recent energy security analyses also show that Bangladesh will be most at risk among the LNG-dependent countries in South Asia in the event of a long-term disruption in Hormuz.
For Bangladesh, this crisis means more than just rising oil prices; it will put pressure on everything from electricity to industry, agriculture, food, and foreign exchange. As domestic gas production declines, Bangladesh has become increasingly dependent on imported LNG, much of which comes from Qatar, and the Strait of Hormuz is a major route for Qatari LNG.
If this route is closed or becomes risky, fuel supply to power plants will be uncertain, load shedding will increase, gas rationing will occur in industries, and production from ready-made garments to ceramic, steel, and fertilizer factories will be disrupted. This will also hit Bangladesh's main source of export revenue. When a ship gets stuck in Hormuz, the impact ultimately reaches the production line of a Bangladeshi garment factory, the boiler of a fertilizer factory, or the irrigation pump of a farmer.
Another terrible aspect of this crisis is inflation. When fuel prices rise, the impact is never limited to the cost of diesel at the pump or electricity bills. Transportation costs increase, irrigation costs in agriculture increase, the cost of marketing food products increases, and ultimately the prices of rice, pulses, edible oil, fish, vegetables - everything starts to go beyond the reach of the common man. This will create a new livelihood crisis for the middle class and low-income people, who are already bearing the burden of high inflation. The tension in Hormuz could therefore bring about a new wave of food inflation in the Bangladeshi market, the social impact of which could even lead to political unrest.
This will add to the severe pressure on foreign exchange reserves. Bangladesh is already facing a dollar crisis, rising import costs, and rising debt. If it has to spend much more dollars than before to buy the same amount of fuel, reserves will quickly dwindle, the value of the rupee will weaken, and import costs will increase further.
This vicious cycle will increase inflation on the one hand, and force the government to curtail development projects and social spending on the other. In other words, the potential closure of Hormuz is not just an energy crisis; it is a direct blow to the stability of Bangladesh's macroeconomics.
Therefore, the possibility of the Strait of Hormuz being closed is a severe test of national preparedness for Bangladesh. If a fire breaks out in a narrow waterway in the Middle East, its smoke will first be seen in Bangladesh's power plants, farmers' irrigation systems, industrial chimneys, and the shopping bags of ordinary people.
This reality reminds us that the only way to escape the dangers of the imperialist world order is to bring strategic self-reliance, policy foresight, and energy security to the center of national security.
Author- Professor, Department of Political Science,
University of Rajshahi sultanmahmud.rana@gmail.com
