Selective Exceptionalism
With the Strait basically locked down: Revolutionary Guards blasting “no ship allowed” since those U.S.-Israeli strikes most traffic’s frozen. Tankers are diverting, oil prices spiking, 20% of global crude at risk.
But here’s the twist: Russia and China?
No explicit “safe passage” guarantee in the headlines, but the optics scream alliance: they sail while everyone else waits.
It’s Tehran’s quiet carve-out—your enemies choke, your partners glide.
That screams selective exceptionalism: sovereignty on steroids, where rules bend for the bloc.
Second: preemptive punch as superpower flex.
The U.S. and Israel just rolled out “Operation Epic Fury”—or “Roaring Lion,” depending who’s talking—hitting Iranian nukes, missiles, even leadership.
Called it preemptive, but critics say it’s straight-up regime-change war, not self-defense.
Yet America and Israel pull this because... why?
Because they can.
No UN veto, no real blowback yet—just raw capability.
That’s their exceptionalism: acting first, framing it as necessity, while others get labeled.
You now get to see the selective exceptionalism of the strongest militaries in the world.