Why insurance shut down the Strait of Hormuz before the admirals could

Writing in The Globe and Mail, Dr. Laurence B. Mussio and Dr. Jessica M. Lomas show how the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is not primarily military — it is an insurance‑driven shutdown of global maritime trade. War‑risk insurers withdrew coverage so quickly after the first U.S.–Israeli strikes that the strait effectively closed before any naval blockade was declared. The authors explore the deeper meaning of a global system built to “remember” past risks — symbolized by Lloyd’s Loss Book —failing to prevent a modern cascade.