Georgia Tech experts available for Strait of Hormuz analysis and commentary

Newswise —  Georgia Tech experts warn those visible impacts are only the beginning. Because energy underpins nearly every sector, from manufacturing and transportation to food and consumer goods, disruptions at this critical chokepoint are setting off slower, less obvious ripple effects that could reshape global supply chains for months.

Available Georgia Tech experts:

• Tibor Besedes, professor of economics — can explain how energy shocks translate into delayed inflation, higher consumer prices, and global trade slowdowns.

• “The effects move slowly and appear in places people do not connect to energy,” said Tibor Besedes, professor in the School of Economics. “Oil and natural gas are part of the cost structure for an enormous range of goods.”

• Lawrence Rubin, professor of international affairs — available to discuss the geopolitical risks surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, regional security dynamics, and why disruptions there have global consequences.

• “We haven’t seen a disruption on this scale since the tanker wars of the late 1980s,” said Larry Rubin, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. Gulf states’ dependence on the strait constrains both regional actors and U.S. strategy, raising risks around crisis decision-making.

• Chris Gaffney, supply chain and industrial systems expert — can speak to cascading supply‑chain disruptions, shipping delays, and why energy‑intensive industries are especially difficult to restart once capacity is lost. “

• Unlike a port strike or canal blockage, there is no meaningful way to reroute volume,” says Gaffney. “If it is disrupted, flow is constrained rather than redirected.” Pipeline alternatives replace only a fraction of the 20 million barrels per day that normally transit the strait.