Dan Crenshaw Instagram – On my latest Hold These Truths podcast, geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan assessed the escalating conflict in the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthi rebels are launching attacks on cargo ships and U.S. naval vessels. Just today, Shell suspended all shipments through the Red Sea, joining dozens of other companies that are opting to reroute trade around the southern tip of Africa – greatly extending the time and cost of shipping. And now two U.S. Navy SEALs are missing after intercepting an Iranian ship that was transporting missile parts to the Houthi rebels. Some critics of U.S. foreign policy will ask – why are we wasting taxpayer money on U.S. Navy warships patrolling the Red Sea to protect cargo ships that don’t even belong to us? Well, they’re forgetting that the last 70 years of American prosperity would have been impossible without a strong, forward-deployed Navy patrolling those far distant shipping lanes. Before World War II, global trade was nothing like it is today. Piracy was the norm, hostile navies wantonly seizing foreign vessels was the norm. The U.S. Navy made it safe and affordable for every peaceful nation to send cargo ships tens of thousands of miles from home. This opened up global commerce to a scale that would make everything – food, energy, appliances, the smartphone you’re reading this on – affordable and accessible to virtually everyone. But the system has always been fragile, as we’re seeing today. If piracy becomes the norm again, as it was for hundreds of years, shipping insurance rates will skyrocket. Which means the price of all imported goods we take for granted will skyrocket, or items will simply cease to exist. Our entire economy falls apart without the U.S. Navy patrolling those shipping lanes. Piracy was the norm before World War II, and it will be again if America withdraws from the world stage. #middleeast #navy #redsea