Page 86 - Cyber Defense eMagazine for July 2020

German Navy and WWII witnessed the battle of Midway that established the U.S. as the new navy
superpower after the destruction of Japanese’s aircraft carriers fleet in the Pacific. More recently, the
Crimea annexation by Russia was, even if triggered by different causes, a geopolitical move to avoid the
loss of access to the Mediterranean Sea.

The current hawkish posture and the “gunboat diplomacy” followed by China is not a surprise regarding
its ambitions to play a greater global leadership role, to protect its shores where most of its economic
activity occurs (its “strategic belt”), and to defend its natural resources and sea lines to supply them from
the South and East China Seas (represented by the Nine-Dash) to the Indian Ocean (currently projected
as the “String of Pearls”3).

A Global Rivalry with Multiple Bottlenecks

Because globalization increases global trade, sea roads are busy and multiple bottlenecks are under the
spotlight, including many straits and canals. For instance, the Strait of Malacca represents 40 % of global
trade, 50% of energy trade, and is indispensable for regional hegemons like China and Japan.

Another geostrategic path is the Strait of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran, through which all the Gulf oil
trade moves. In this region, the U.S. Navy is face-to-face with the Iranian one. The USS Harry S. Truman
aircraft carrier is presently deployed in the Arabian Sea (near Oman) as part of the U.S. 5th fleet, which
covers the Middle East, a crucial region for the U.S. as 18% of its imported oil comes from the Persian
Gulf countries.4 In 1967, the blockade of the Strait of Tiran by Egypt was used as casus belli by Israel
and started the Six-Day War. Indeed, the Strait is the only way to leave the Gulf of Aqaba and gain access
to Iran’s oil. Other important passages such as the Bab El-Mandab Strait, the Danish Straits, or the
Bosporus are well-known narrow gullies.
Canals are equally critical for international trade, especially the Suez and the Panama ones. The former
was the theater of a war in 1956 between Egypt and a French, British and Israeli alliance (encompassed
in the secretive Protocol of Sèvres) to regain control after being nationalized by the infamous Egyptian
President Nasser. The latter, under U.S. control for almost 100 years, was retroceded to Panama and
recently enlarged to accommodate the new bigger ships and ensure revenue to Panama as it represents
5.5 % of its GDP.

The Art of Hacking Navigation Systems

In 2017, some incidents at sea have sparked interrogations as hundreds of South Korean fishing vessels
returned earlier to port after their GPS (Global Positioning System) signals were jammed, allegedly by

3 HUGHES Lindsay. “String of Pearls Redux: Increased Concern for India”, Future Directions International, Nov 13, 2018
http://www.futuredirections.org.au/publication/string-of-pearls-redux-increased-concern-for-india/
4 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). “How much petroleum the United States import and export?”, EIA, Apr 4, 2017
https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6

Cyber Defense eMagazine –July 2020 Edition 86
Copyright © 2020, Cyber Defense Magazine. All rights reserved worldwide.