How the Houthis blockade of the Red Sea could affect the global economy

NPR's A Martínez asks former U.S. deputy national security adviser Jon Finer what the blockade of the Red Sea by Houthi rebels means for the global economy. Transcript A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Let's discuss the situation in the Middle East with Jon Finer. He was deputy national security adviser in the Biden administration. Jon, you were in the government the last time the Houthis attacked shipping in the Red Sea. How challenging was it to stop them?JON FINER: This is an extremely difficult problem, in large part because the Houthis, in this balance of which side feels more pain when two sides decide to start to fight each other, seems very willing to accept being bombed to try to achieve their objectives. So we attacked the Houthis when they went after commercial shipping lanes, when they attacked Israel in the aftermath of October 7. And to be honest, while we felt those attacks were well deserved, given their attacks on the global economy, they were never particularly effective in deterring the Houthis from going after shipping lanes. And that is a problem, given that the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed. The only other major avenue for getting energy products out of the Middl...