The intensifying U.S.–China rivalry is no longer confined to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, or territorial disputes. It now increasingly hinges on who controls the lifelines of global energy.

The era of cheap, reliable fossil fuels flowing through narrow maritime corridors is ending. Repeated chokepoint crises are not anomalies. They are defining features of a multipolar world where geopolitical risk is no longer episodic but constant. From the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca and the Panama Canal, the vulnerabilities exposed are structural. Energy security, supply chains, and global trade are now deeply intertwined and increasingly fragile.