In an attempt to provoke America into regional military intervention, which would itself provoke a broader global conflict over Israel, the Houtis — effectively the government of northern Yemen, which has been at civil war since 2014 — crippled the Red Sea. Now, around a third of global container shipping has been diverted, dramatically disrupting global trade. With no end to the crisis in sight, this already-significant problem could, given just a few more disruptions, easily cascade into something unmanageable.

Yesterday, I hit up the nation’s foremost thinker on the subject, Ryan Petersen, who also happens to be the CEO of Flexport, one of the most important supply chain management and logistics companies in the world. We discussed the crisis, implications, and what appears to be a massive erosion of the US-led global order, central to which has always been our navy’s commitment to guaranteeing safe trade. A lot in here, check it out below and pop off in the comments.

THE FIFTH ESTATE