The coming conflict in the Indian Ocean

Robert Kaplan's remarks in this speech at FPRI were distilled into the following comments over at Small Wars Journal. The full speech is well worth watching.

1) Commerce on the sea lines of communication between the Middle East and East Asia, already massive, will greatly expand in the decades ahead.

2) Echoing the pre-World War I naval arms race between Germany and Great Britain, China will not trust the U.S. Navy to protect its shipping through this region.

3) Naval and air power will dominate military planning among the major powers with China, India, and Japan competing with the U.S. for military leadership in the region.

4) China is using its relationships with unsavory regimes in the Indian Ocean region to build an archipelago of naval bases around India. India is countering by expanding its own naval and air power and by expanding its military relationships with the U.S. and Japan.

Notice how Kaplan sees the battle lines being drawn around India?


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By: Brant