How Iran Put the World in a Straitjacket

Americans like to think that their lives are shaped by elections, legislation, and the decisions of their elected leaders in Washington. Lately, they are being shaped by a 21-mile-wide strip of water half a world away. The Strait of Hormuz - the narrow passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the broader Indian Ocean - has become the most powerful "legislative body" affecting the American economy. Roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply flows through it. When that