Ray Dalio: Control of Hormuz will determine whether America's global hegemony persists or collapses

Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, published a lengthy article titled "It All Comes Down to Who Controls the Strait of Hormuz: The Final Battle." The article points out one obvious fact about the war with Iran: everything will come down to who controls the Strait of Hormuz. If Iran still controls who can pass through the Strait of Hormuz, or even retains the power to negotiate, the United States will be deemed to have lost this war.

If Trump and the U.S. cannot win this war, they will be seen as having created an irreparable catastrophic situation. Regardless of the reasons for the U.S. failing to control Hormuz, both Trump and the U.S. will lose. Losing influence over Hormuz for the U.S. will be akin to the impact of the 1956 Suez Canal crisis on Britain, as well as similar failures of the Dutch Empire in the 18th century and the Spanish Empire in the 17th century. The pattern of events leading to the collapse of empires is almost always the same, and this decisive "final battle" will determine whether U.S. global hegemony persists or collapses.