IUM Notebooks N.º 46 - The Geopolitics of Chokepoints and Shatterbelts (Vol. II)

The Suez Canal, the Sumed Pipeline and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, due to its geopolitical and strategic value are referred along the present essay as primary chokepoints, because through them flows daily a significant part of commercial transport, in one of the richest regions of the world in natural resources - the Middle East, still considered a shatterbelt. These are a set of enough reasons to attract the attention of several global and regional actors. As such, the objective of this work is to analyze the dynamics of the geopolitical and strategic factors of the Suez Canal, the Sumed Pipeline, and the Bab-El-Mandeb Strait, focusing on the economic, political and military perspectives, and also to analyze the relations of conflict and accommodation between the various actors. The conclusions show that, in general, there is an alignment of interests between the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt against the interests of Russia, Iran and Turkey. China is the actor who conflicts directly with the interests of the United States but manages to create relationships of accommodation with everyone else.

The Panama Canal has always assumed a relevant role, not only for the country in which it operates, but also for the entire Central American region and, fundamentally, the United States of America, which has always sought a robust economy, by an incessant world hegemony search, in which maritime power proves to be decisive. The Panama Canal, not only allows and continues to allow, regional control and the declaration of the United States of America throughout the world, but also it holds the característics and capabilities that allows the develop and international trade elevating, making it an coveted power instrument by the great world powers.In this way, this paper propose it was identify and analyze, in the geopolitical and geostrategic domains, the interest relations between the different actors on the international scene, such as the United States of America, China, Europe and even Russia, although in a discreet way.Currently, the Panama Canal can be considered as an negotiating power instrument, for world trade, promoting closer diplomatic relations between the entire Central American region and different actors in world economy competition.

The South Pass, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, defined by the Strait of Magellan, Drake Pass and Antarctic Peninsula, proved to be a neuralgic part of those trade routes, specially to the great European powers, until the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, after which, was relegated to a secondary geopolitical plane. However, both as a passage to ships that exceed Panamax, and consequently can’t cross the Canal (namely the large American carriers) and as a potential alternative to other vessels, in the eventuality of its closure, the South Passage still maintains geopolitical value, particularly from a "Mahanist" point of view, based on maritime control of trade routes. It also contributes to this resurgence of the geopolitical value of the South Pass, the immeasurable energy, mineral and food supplies, with particular emphasis on those existing in Antarctica, which are already being disputed by regional powers, but also by other powers such as China, Russia, the USA, the United Kingdom or Germany. At the same time, old disputes such as the Falkland issue or the Antarctic Treaty System get even more complex, and new ones born, in consequence of the endemic political volatility of Latin America, which also converge to geopolitically exponentiate the maritime pathways under study.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important chokepoints. Due to the maritime trade in hydrocarbons that transit through this route (a third of all oil exported worldwide). For those reasons, it is the target of several conflicts, whether regional or global. The main regional actors are Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran is trying to maintain political-military control of the Strait of Hormuz and Saudi Arabia, along with other Sunni states, oppose Iran's intentions with informal US support, notably at military level. These two states beyond these two points of divergence, have other misalignments – ideological, racial and religious – possibly more structural and that make it impossible for harmony in the region to exist. Global actors, like US, have economic interests in the region, which are determined by political-military factors, which guarantees the US influence in the region, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz. It should be noted that this relevant chokepoint is inserted in a shatterbelt, considered another weakness, in which global players will act to increase their influence on this geostrategic point. As will be exposed throughout the analyses, the Strait of Hormuz assumes a political-military importance of global impact, due to several factors and interests of the main actors. Therefore, it is not expected that there will be a reduction in tensions in this region.