Has the West Already Lost Control of Its Most Vital Sea Route?
Commentary
U.S. and Western influence over the critical Red Sea/Suez Canal sea lines of communication (SLOC) is now estimated to be at its lowest ebb in more than a century, even when the USSR had a period of presence during the Cold War.
Russia and China, although suffering from their own strategic constraints, have made major inroads into and presence in the Red Sea/Suez region at the expense of the U.S. and European powers in 2022–23. The United States has had a declining ability to influence or prevent conflicts currently underway in Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have now effectively ended their brief rapprochement of the past five years, and both states are increasing their links with Moscow, Beijing, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Tehran, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arabs Emirate (UAE) are themselves shifting some of their priorities from Washington to Moscow and Beijing. And Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also improving ties with Iran, which is now an entrenched part of the new Eurasian strategic bloc with Russia and China….