The 2026 closure of the Strait of Hormuz has confirmed what energy strategists long warned: a single narrow waterway carrying one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil trade represents a systemic vulnerability no amount of diplomatic goodwill can insure against. But the crisis has also accelerated something the MarketWatch framing captured before the shooting started — the conditions under which Hormuz matters less are now being built in real time, under duress.