The world has suddenly gone quiet, waiting for the next performance from the United States. If the U.S. cannot secure the Strait of Hormuz, its global military power projection capability will face an unprecedented crisis of credibility, and it will become difficult to collect protection money in the future. This is reminiscent of the 1956 Suez Crisis when the U.S. forced Britain to withdraw from the Suez Canal, marking the end of Britain's colonial influence in the Middle East and a symbolic turning point in the decline of the British Empire.