India, March 4 -- Oil tankers sit idle at anchorage. Traders scramble to price risk. Governments brace for inflationary shockwaves. What looks at first glance like a wartime disruption in the Strait of Hormuz may, according to some analysts, represent something more calculated - the opening move in a broader geopolitical strategy.

Energy economist Anas Alhajji believes the global energy system has entered "uncharted territory" after insurers abruptly withdrew war risk cover for vessels transiting the world's most critical oil chokepoint.

The immediate effect has been dramatic: shipping activity through Hormuz has slowed to a near standstill, not because of missiles striking tankers, but because financial institutions have pulled the plu...