From interdependence to vulnerability: The political economy of maritime chokepoints and economic security in the contemporary international system
Keywords:
Vulnerability, Exploitation, Strategic Planning, Structural Realism, ChokepointsAbstract
This essay examines how maritime chokepoints become focal points of global trade networks that introduce vulnerabilities. This study challenges the assumption of early International Political Economy (IPE) theory and literature, which regarded complex interdependence as a stabilizing force in global politics, and argues that states can exploit strategic vulnerabilities in shipping, such as chokepoints like the Straits of Malacca, Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb, the Turkish Straits and the Suez and Panama Canals, for political ends. By combining structural realism, the weaponised interdependence conceptual frameworks and Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye's interdependence theory, we illustrate how the structural constraints become a source of asymmetric shocks, state-sponsored coercion, and non-state disruptions to states. This article illustrates how localised disturbances lead to global supply chain failures using case studies, such as the Red Sea security issue and the Panama Canal's architectural vulnerabilities. We argue that rather than being based on market efficiency, state-enforced marine governance, strategic redundancy, and multilateral infrastructure security are essential to economic security.
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