The Strait of Hormuz is the most important waterway in the global energy sector, and it is, for all intents and purposes, closed. Only a trickle of crude oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, helium and fertilizers is transiting the strait amid safety concerns stemming from the Middle East conflict, which has entered its second month. While over the last decade many people -- myself included -- have argued that data is the new oil, this crisis is proving that black gold remains one of the most critical resources worldwide. And the impacts don't stop there. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are causing not just an energy crisis, but far-reaching shortages of natural resources and critical raw materials on which the global economy depends. These compounding crises are exposing the flaws in a global economic system that relies on a key post-Cold War assumption: resource supply chains will not be severed....
