Oil at $100, Wars Rage, and a Planet Burns: 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 [15042]. After Iran attacked three commercial oil tankers, the United States launched multiple waves of airstrikes on Iranian coastal defenses and military sites. President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire "over," reinstated a naval blockade, and threatened to seize Iran’s main oil terminal on Kharg Island. 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 [15042]. Oil prices surged past $100 a barrel, jumping 15% in a single week, as Goldman Sachs warned crude could hit $120 if the waterway remains blocked [15035][15042].

Simultaneously, Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, 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% of global seaborne oil passes, has seen cargo ships reverse course as Houthi forces prepared drones and missiles for potential strikes [15024]. 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 conflict has now directly threatened global economic stability, with analysts noting that the surge in oil prices has become too significant for investors to ignore [15035].

The twin oil chokepoint crisis is worsening a humanitarian disaster. The World Food Programme reports it is feeding 1.5 million fewer people this year due to the conflict [15042]. An extra 2.5 million people in Somalia and 2.3 million in Afghanistan now struggle to meet basic food needs [15042]. 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 [15042].

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 [15042]. 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 [15042]. 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 [15042]. 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 [15042]. In a separate development, Ukraine detected uranium in six Russian drone warheads that emitted radiation up to 80 times normal levels, warning residents not to touch debris [15037].

The crisis in Gaza continues to defy diplomatic efforts. Nine months into a ceasefire, two-thirds of Gaza’s population still faces crisis-level food insecurity, with humanitarian groups warning the territory is trapped in a “structural emergency” that short-term relief cannot fix [15044]. 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 [15046]. Over 1,500 sick and wounded Gazans have died waiting for medical treatment abroad [15046].

Beyond the battlefields, the climate emergency is accelerating with terrifying speed. A record-breaking heatwave in Europe melted roads, buckled railway tracks, and killed more than 2,000 people in France alone [15046]. France was forced to shut down three nuclear reactors as river temperatures reached dangerous levels, threatening the country's electricity supply [15046]. Wildfires scorched over 67,000 hectares across France and Spain [15046]. 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 [15046]. Extreme heat is wrecking sports careers, destroying $20 billion in European crops, and killing camels in Africa, yet governments and corporations are failing to act [15029].

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” [15046]. 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 [15046]. A staggering 2.69 billion people—one in three globally—cannot afford a healthy diet [15046]. 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 [15046].

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 [15042]. 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 [15042]. On the technology front, the United States has threatened sanctions on Chinese companies for allegedly stealing American artificial intelligence intellectual property, as Chinese AI models have nearly closed the performance gap with U.S. rivals [15038].

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.