A flotilla of British warships steams toward the Strait of Hormuz, that narrow artery of global petroleum. Trapped sailors, mostly from merchant vessels, await rescue or ransom. The parallels to 1956 are almost too neat: another Suez, another decline.
The Royal Navy, once the policeman of the waves, now scrambles to respond to a crisis born of Iranian brinkmanship. Why? Because the West has spent decades forgetting that power, like oil, must be guarded.
The Victorians understood this. They would never have allowed a choke point to fall into the hands of a theocratic regime. Instead, we have intellectual decadence: a belief that trade deals and diplomacy can replace gunboats.
They cannot. The sailors trapped in Hormuz are not merely victims of geopolitics. They are symbols of a civilisation that has grown soft, that mistakes negotiation for strength.
The task force will likely succeed, but the real question remains unanswered: when will Britain, and the West, relearn the cruel lessons of history?
