Executive Summaries of Geopolitical Readings: Part 2

The Importance of Maritime Chokepoints, Reynolds B. Peele

Thesis: “This article examines some historical and theoretical aspects of maritime chokepoints; assesses current issues and foreign policy concerns regarding their security, and evaluates US strategy as it relates to free access to sea lines of communication. “

Mahan and Seapower

• Mahan’s analysis of history convinced him that the lines communication determined the outcome of many battles and campaigns.
• The essence of Mahan’s theory was that a nation could be strong and prosper only if it had the ability to protect the seas from any threat, and that Seapower was the only way to do this.
• Three attributes of nations bordering the sea:

Production, with the necessity of exchanging products
Shipping, whereby the exchange is carried on
Colonies [in other words: bases, economic, military, or both], which facilitate and enlarge the operations of shipping and tend to protect it multiplying points of safety

• Commerce and war making Ability are intimately related; trade dictates naval strategy.
  Therefore physical presence at specific locations to facilitate trade and defend trade routes is essential.
  
• Mercantile nations must hold in force chokepoints through which commercial shipping must pass.
  

Geography and Strategy

• Geopolitics is defined as the study of the influence of geography, economics, and demography on the politics and especially the foreign policy of a state.
• Geography is highlighted in strategic discussions because it helps the participants understand strategic requirements and relationships.
• Military might is subject to the constraints and dictates of geography.
  

Mahan Updated

• The correlation between commerce and war making continues to shape U.S. policy, especially when considering that we import more than 9.8 million barrels of gasoline a day and our exports make up 3.3% of all tonnage shipped in a year.
• Keeping the Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) open is a strategic concern, and an international right that must be jealously guarded against ANY infringement.
• Closed SLOCs will also mean significantly decreased US military response times, hindering our ability to project power and avert disasters.
  

Regional Threats

• Unrest and conflict in the Middle East, North Korea, South American Banana Republics, the Balkans, the Spratly Islands (South China Seas), and humanitarian issues in Africa all have the potential to affect our ability to use the SLOC.
  

Strategy and Sea Lines of Communication

• “The three essential components of US National Security Strategy- peacetime engagement, deterrence and conflict prevention and fighting and winning the nation’s wars- all assume that we can deploy forces to any part of the world in a timely fashion.”
• SLOC are essential geopolitical considerations for economic and military strategy, and US maritime forces will guarantee unhindered SLOC passage.
  

Conclusions

• “The political, economic, and military importance of SLOC has remained fundamentally unchanged since Mahan shaped the issue more than a century ago.”
  Hamstringing the Navy through budget cuts interferes with their ability to hold SLOCs.