Oil Wars, Starving Millions: How a System Built on Profit Is Crushing the Global Economy

The most dramatic rupture of the past week came as a hard-won ceasefire between the United States and Iran collapsed into open military conflict over control of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes daily [15018]. After Iran attacked three commercial oil tankers, the United States launched multiple waves of airstrikes on Iranian coastal defenses and military sites [15018]. President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire "over," reinstated a naval blockade, and threatened to seize Iran’s main oil terminal on Kharg Island [15018]. Iran retaliated by striking United States military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, while a liquefied natural gas tanker caught fire after being hit by a projectile in the strait [14980]. Oil prices surged sharply, jumping 15% in a single week as crude futures reacted to the escalating confrontation in the vital energy corridor [15003].

The crisis deepened as Iran buried its slain Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a massive funeral that drew millions of mourners. Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, publicly declared a "mission of revenge" for the killing of his father, even as the country’s top diplomat held direct talks with United States officials in Oman, highlighting the fractured nature of Tehran’s decision-making [15018]. Both the United States and Iran now claim control of the strait, creating a dangerous stalemate where any miscalculation could trigger a wider war [15018]. The United States Navy has already seized an oil tanker headed for Iran’s Kharg Island and turned away two other ships in the strait [15013]. Iran has responded by closing the strait for the first time in decades, threatening global oil supplies [15003]. Goldman Sachs has warned that Brent crude could surge above $120 a barrel if the waterway remains disrupted [15020]. In response, global energy companies are accelerating plans to bypass the strategic waterway. Iraq and Syria signed a deal to build a major oil pipeline to the Mediterranean, aiming to diversify export routes and circumvent the narrow passage [15018].

Simultaneously, Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia, threatening to disrupt oil shipments through the Red Sea [15020]. The Houthis struck two Saudi oil tankers with missiles and drones, pushing crude prices to $98 per barrel and causing all oil tankers heading to or from Saudi ports to abruptly change direction [15024]. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow passage through which nearly 10 percent of global seaborne oil passes, has seen cargo ships reverse course as Houthi forces prepared drones and missiles for potential strikes [15020]. Asian oil buyers are already facing delays of up to a month as tankers avoid the strait and take longer alternative routes around Africa [15024].

The closure is worsening a humanitarian crisis. The World Food Programme reports it is feeding 1.5 million fewer people this year due to the conflict. An extra 2.5 million people in Somalia and 2.3 million in Afghanistan now struggle to meet basic food needs [15018]. Even if tensions ease, the damage will not be fixed quickly. The strait is a key route for global fertilizer exports; as prices soared, many farmers reduced fertilizer use, threatening future food production. Remittances from migrant workers in the Gulf have also dried up, hurting countries in Asia and Africa [15018]. Nigerians hoping for cheaper petrol are being disappointed, as renewed fighting near the Strait of Hormuz threatens to keep global oil prices high, dashing any chance of immediate relief at the pump [15018].

While the Middle East teetered, the war in Ukraine reached a new and devastating phase. Ukrainian forces launched a sustained drone campaign that has crippled Russia’s oil refining capacity, inflicting an estimated $13.5 billion in damage [15018]. The attacks have triggered Russia’s worst fuel crisis in decades. Drivers in cities across the country now face queues of up to 18 hours for gasoline, which is rationed using QR codes linked to vehicle registrations [15018]. Fistfights have broken out at gas stations, and in one Siberian town, a police officer drew his pistol after a driver cut a five-hour queue [15018]. In response to the crisis, Russia has banned all diesel exports, sending global prices sharply higher as the fuel shortage threatens to ripple through the entire global economy, raising costs for everything from farm equipment to industrial machinery [15018]. Ukrainian drone units have struck 147 Russian shadow-fleet oil tankers in ten days, forcing Moscow to pull its elite Rubicon drone unit off the frontline to guard its remaining ships at sea [15018]. Russia retaliated with deadly strikes across Ukraine while simultaneously blocking Ukraine’s deepwater grain ports, halting all maritime grain exports and leaving the country dependent on a single railway line [15018]. In a desperate move, Russia’s Agriculture Ministry is now offering farmers a type of boiler fuel that is 90 times dirtier than the diesel they used last year, an alternative that can cut an engine’s lifespan in half [15009].

The conflict has also drawn in foreign fighters from Africa. Ukrainian military intelligence reports that at least 106 Cameroonian citizens have died while fighting alongside Russian forces since the war began, highlighting a troubling pattern of foreign recruitment by the Russian military [15018]. Meanwhile, a sophisticated scam is tricking citizens of Botswana into fighting in Ukraine, with dozens trapped on the front lines after believing they had accepted legitimate jobs in Russia [15018].

Beyond the battlefields, the climate emergency is accelerating with terrifying speed. At least 51 people have died in southeastern Bangladesh after heavy rains triggered catastrophic flooding, with waters now threatening to engulf the capital, Dhaka [15018]. In neighboring India, floods and heatwaves are hitting harder than ever, with scientists saying the monsoon deluge is a clear sign of an intensifying global climate emergency [15018]. In the United States, emergency officials in Texas raced to rescue stranded people as heavy rain turned roads into rivers [15018]. A record-breaking heatwave in Europe melted roads, buckled railway tracks, and killed more than 2,000 people in France alone [15018]. France has been forced to shut down three nuclear reactors as river temperatures reached dangerous levels, threatening the country's electricity supply [15018]. Wildfires scorched over 67,000 hectares across France and Spain, with Spain’s Almería province experiencing its deadliest blaze in two decades [15018]. Meanwhile, smoke from more than 800 active wildfires in Canada has drifted south, blanketing major cities from the Midwest to the Northeast in hazardous haze and triggering air quality alerts for over 100 million Americans [15018].

The economic and health fallout is crushing ordinary people across the globe. Global hunger fell for the third straight year in 2025, but the United Nations warns that progress is “fragile, unevenly distributed and insufficient” [15017]. According to the UN’s annual report, 645 million people still faced hunger last year, and Africa has now become the epicenter of the world’s food crisis, accounting for the highest number of hungry people globally [15017]. A staggering 2.69 billion people—one in three globally—cannot afford a healthy diet [15017]. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now spreading faster than any previous outbreak in history, with over 1,759 confirmed infections and 600 deaths, fueled by misinformation, attacks on health workers, and cuts to international aid [15019]. In Sudan, a cholera outbreak has already killed more than 100 people and infected over 1,300 others, with the World Health Organization warning the disease could worsen as ongoing fighting and heavy rains make containment nearly impossible [15019]. The United Nations has warned that more than 48 million people across Eastern Africa will require emergency food assistance in 2026 as drought, conflict, and economic instability push the region toward famine [15018].

The crisis in Gaza continues to defy diplomatic efforts. Since a United States-brokered ceasefire took effect, at least 1,098 Palestinians have been killed and 3,535 wounded by Israeli fire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry [15019]. The health system has completely collapsed after more than 1,000 days of war. The territory now has the highest number of amputee children per capita in the world, and chickenpox cases among children have reached nearly 10,000 [15019]. Over 1,500 sick and wounded Gazans have died waiting for medical treatment abroad [15019]. Israel is racing to establish settlements in both Gaza and the West Bank before its October 27 election, while its defense minister openly celebrates the destruction of Gaza as a "deliberate policy" [15018]. In a major escalation, Israel is now threatening to seize Solomon’s Pools, a historic site near Bethlehem, while simultaneously signing a $2.3 billion agreement to build 12,000 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank [15018].

Even as these crises unfold, the global economic system continues to prioritize military spending over human welfare. The war against Iran has so far cost the United States $34 billion, with reports indicating military funds are running low and the Pentagon is being forced to cut spending in other areas to cover the costs [14998]. Meanwhile, Norway’s state oil company, Equinor, nearly doubled its profit to $11.5 billion as it ramped up production to fill the gap left by halted Gulf shipments [15003]. The common thread running through these disasters is a global economic system that prioritizes military spending and corporate profit over human welfare. While the planet burns and wars rage, ordinary citizens—especially the world’s poorest—bear the costs in hunger, displacement, and death. As the pattern of endless conflict reshapes global politics, the question remains whether the international system can deliver the urgent, coordinated action needed to prevent the damage from becoming irreversible.