How Choke Points Became Weapons of War, with Edward Fishman

2026-07-10

Download

Edward Fishman, senior fellow and director of the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins School of War to discuss his New York Times best-selling book, Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. How has the United States turned the global economy into a strategic weapon? What are the strengths and limits of sanctions? And how are China, Russia, and Iran adapting to a new era of economic warfare? 02:46 - Edward Fishman's background 04:26 - Understanding economic...

Edward Fishman, senior fellow and director of the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins School of War to discuss his New York Times best-selling book, Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare. How has the United States turned the global economy into a strategic weapon? What are the strengths and limits of sanctions? And how are China, Russia, and Iran adapting to a new era of economic warfare?

02:46 - Edward Fishman's background

04:26 - Understanding economic chokepoints

05:35 - The dollar as a strategic chokepoint

07:02 - Semiconductors as a strategic chokepoint

09:24 - The Iraq embargo and modern sanctions

11:05 - Airpower vs. economic warfare

12:14 - Are sanctions a "nuclear weapon"?

13:23 - America's sanctions strategy toward Iran

14:25 - Trump pulling out of the JCPOA

16:20 - The limits of economic warfare

18:00 - Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and the MoU

20:44 - Shadow fleets and Iranian oil