Chokepoints & Supply
Geographic bottlenecks where global trade concentrates, creating vulnerabilities in supply chains and systems.
3 pieces in this category
April 2026
- 20 Apr 8 min
The 21-Mile Bottleneck
When ships carrying one-fifth of the world's oil can't move through a strait narrower than a marathon route, the lesson isn't about the conflict—it's about how concentration creates control in every system we build.
Chokepoints and Global Systems - 19 Apr 7 min
Why Jet Fuel Price Spikes Break Some Airlines and Not Others
A sudden fuel price spike forces airlines to cut routes and raise fares. Why does the same shock kill budget carriers while legacy airlines survive? The answer reveals how systems break at their bottlenecks—and why efficiency creates brittleness.
How commodity shocks cascade through interconnected systems - 18 Apr 7 minutes
The 21-Mile Channel That Moves Oil Markets
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is open during a ceasefire, and oil prices plunge. Why does a channel you could swim across control a fifth of the world's oil? This is a lesson about chokepoints—geographic bottlenecks where entire systems concentrate their flows, creating points of maximum vulnerability.
Chokepoints and system vulnerability