In the long contest between great powers and the chokepoints that shape their ambitions, the Strait of Hormuz has become the latest arena where military confidence has met its limits. The Trump administration, having failed to restore free passage through force, now confronts the quiet logic of compromise: that accepting Iranian tolls on shipping may be less costly than sustaining a war with no visible end. History offers precedents for such arrangements, and geography, as ever, is indifferent to the pride of nations.