Trendlines April 2026 Newsletter

Issue 2 | Chokepoints | April 2026

Recent disruptions in the Middle East have renewed attention to the world’s most visible trade access routes. However, the deeper story is not about any single crisis. It is that the global economy runs through a growing set of chokepoints: physical, financial, and regulatory. These chokepoints are where pressure is concentrated, and resilience is increasingly tested. From fertilizer flows to the financial and regulatory systems that influence whether trade happens at all, these types of bottlenecks are becoming structural features of global commerce. For business and policymakers alike, the question is no longer whether chokepoints shape markets but what supply chain vulnerabilities they reveal and how exposure to them will define advantage.

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Joyce Bongongo is an associate fellow with the Hess Center for New Frontiers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. A special thanks to Grace Dereemer, Hess Center for New Frontiers (CSIS), for her contributions to research and editorial design.