Greetings and welcome to Denison Forum's Daily Article podcast for Tuesday, March 17,

2026. I'm Chris Elkins, narrating today's daily article written by co-founder Dr. Jim Denison.

Israel's defense minister announced this morning that its military killed top Iranian security

official Ali Larenjani in an overnight strike. In other news, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has

been targeted by explosive drones, British airways as it suspended some flights to the Middle

East until the end of May, and U.S. gas prices are

continuing to rise as a result of the war. However, much of the focus today is on a narrow

waterway that is central to the global economy. A quarter of the world's liquefied natural gas

and seaborne trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz from the Persian Gulf

to the open ocean.

Iran has effectively closed it by attacking ships and reportedly laying mines in the strait.

More than a thousand cargo ships have been blocked so far.

According to Stanford and Harvard historian Nile Ferguson, however, the Strait of

Hormuz is potentially less significant to the however, the Strait of Hormuz is potentially less significant

to the world than the Strait of Taiwan. He notes that more than 90% of the world's most advanced

semiconductors and 99% of the chips used for cutting-edge AI training are manufactured in Taiwan.

The island also imports 97% of its energy supply in the form of

oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal. If China were to seize the opportunity afforded by the

war in Iran to restrict energy imports into Taiwan and technology exports from the island,

the impact to the global economy would be immediate and catastrophic.

Dr. Ferguson's sobering article illustrates his oft-quoted observation.

The law of unintended consequences is the only real law of history.

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