"The politics of a country is hidden in its geography", said Napoleon Bonaparte, who is credited with the somewhat more fatal saying that "geography is destiny", although his great imperial enterprise, despite this knowledge, was ultimately defeated by the geographical features and expanses of the icy Russian steppes, rather than the monarchist regimes of Europe as his sworn human enemies.
The opinion that geographic barriers are an important and above all permanent player in the political arena was shared by many historians, but also by leaders of previous eras, from Justinian who said that whoever holds the Bosphorus rules the world, through Franklin Roosevelt whose strategists reminded that "geography cannot be argued with", to contemporary publicist Tim Marshall who in the book The power of geography he says that "politicians are important, but geography is more important".
It can be said that it was simple geography that foiled the plan of the current administration of US President Donald Trump, whose attack on Iran apparently ran aground on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage through which the flow of millions and millions of tons of oil and thus the pulse of the world economy was stopped. Despite its enormous and sophisticated force, Washington has been forced in recent weeks to negotiate with Iran over the fatal sea passage that the Islamic republic literally controls with ordinary patrol boats.
Many geographical barriers, mountains, deserts and seas have influenced the course of historical events, but nowhere is geography as unequivocally convincing as in a strait - a narrow sea passage between two landmasses that connects two larger bodies of water, the sea or the ocean, and which is therefore, by the nature of things, important for navigation. Straits that in the past were located on important trade routes influenced military strategies and determined the destinies of many empires.
"Nature determines, man manages", wrote the English geographer William Gordon East. It is not particularly wise, nor is it necessary to refer to the authorities of the past, to say that the greatest power can encounter an insurmountable mountain range, and that the best plan can fall apart before a coast that is too far away, and that by occupying a strait the arteries of the world's trade can be controlled. However, the question is how true it is today, when distances have been replaced by the virtual connection of the entire planet and when it seems that the problem of a physical passage can always be somehow bridged. But it is obvious that it cannot be ignored.
"Geography is no longer synonymous with fatalism," writes the American author Robert Kaplan, author of the book "The Revenge of Geography", but adds that geography is still, "as well as the distribution of economic and military power in itself, one of the main limitations, as well as drivers, of the actions of today's states." The seven straits, bottlenecks at the most critical points of the planet that have redirected the course of world history since ancient times, may not have the last word today, but they are still very important players on the world stage.
STRAIT OF ORMUS
If they didn't think about it before, today billions of people know where the Strait of Hormuz is and that it is a vital capillary through which the blood of the global economy flows, and which is located in Iran's backyard. Although the White House repeatedly assured of a truce and free passage, as well as claims that the Americans occupied the Strait of Hormuz, the situation on the ground and open attacks on tankers show that Iran completely controls the strategic strait that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. The Strait of Hormuz separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula and throughout history the Portuguese, British and local sultans fought for control over it, while today sovereignty is shared between Iran and Oman.
After Iran-US relations reached a breaking point in February, alongside airstrikes that decapitated the Islamic republic, Tehran began using the strait as the ultimate lever of power, threatening to close it completely. Since then, the media has persistently reminded that 20 percent of the world's oil (about 21 million barrels per day) flows through the passage, transported by tankers from several Middle Eastern countries. Oil traffic through the strait dropped drastically due to the war, Iran introduced a selective blockade and tolling of the passage, while the US retaliated with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports, which led to the biggest jump in energy prices since the 20s and the accumulation of more than 150 tankers at the approaches to the strait.
The name of the strait comes from the word Hormoz, which is an ancient Persian deity, that is, the Persian name for the supreme god of Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda, who is the creator of light, truth, order and goodness. In Zoroastrian cosmology this god opposes the evil and darkness represented by Ahriman.
photo: ap photoSYMBOL OF BRITISH NAVAL POWER: Gibraltar
GIBRALTAR
"Every sailor is a bachelor when he passes Gibraltar," said British Admiral Horatio Nelson, whose fate, as well as the fate of the entire British Empire, will be tied to this narrow strait, which represents the only natural connection between the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean and the closed basin of the Mediterranean Sea. At the point where Europe and Africa almost touch, the strait is crucial for the biology and climate of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but also for civilizations on both continents.
Due to its strategic importance, the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Moors, Spaniards and, finally, the British, with whom the nickname "The Rock" began to be used, fought around Gibraltar for centuries. A turning point in its history was the Great Siege (1779–1783), when the British successfully defended the fortress on Gibraltar from the combined Franco-Spanish forces during the American War of Independence and retained control of the strait. A few decades later, just forty kilometers away from the strait, the decisive Battle of Trafalgar (1805) was fought, where the British forces under the command of Admiral Nelson won the victory over the French. The admiral himself perished, and his body was carried in a cask of spirits to Gibraltar, but the victory ensured British naval dominance of the seas for the next century.
There is an interesting legend among British sailors and soldiers about a fateful connection with the local Barbary macaque monkeys. Supposedly, as long as there are monkeys on the Rock, Britain will rule it. The matter gained so much momentum that there was great concern when their population dangerously decreased, to only 24 individuals, during the Second World War. Winston Churchill therefore issued a directive in 1944 Operation Monkey to urgently import more Barbary macaques from Morocco.
Today, Gibraltar is one of the busiest waterways in the world, through which more than 60.000 ships pass annually, which accounts for almost 20 percent of the world's total maritime trade. In a key place, Gibraltar has always ignited the author's imagination, but James Joyce wrote about it most prominently in Molly Bloom's famous interior monologue, at the very end of the novel Ulysses. "And jasmines and muscats and cacti and Gibraltar as a little girl I was a flower", thinks Molly Bloom.
MAGELLAN'S PASSAGE
Located in the very south of South America, this natural passage connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through a maze of fjords and islands. Its cold waters cut through the rugged Patagonian coast, forming a strategic link between the world's two largest oceans. Although the Panama Canal long ago assumed the primacy of navigation between the two oceans, about 2500 ships still pass through the strait annually, primarily those that are too large for the canal (Post-panamax), but also tankers sailing between the southern ports of America.
"The Strait of Magellan is the most terrible obstacle that nature has ever set before human ambition", says the chronicler Antonio Pigafetta, who described the famous expedition around the world by the navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who crossed this strait in 1520. When his expedition reached the southernmost point of America, Magellan called the fires lit by the natives on the coast Land of Fire (Land of Fire), thinking they are volcanoes, which is another name for the strait. Magellan himself, according to legend, called it the "Strait of All Saints" because he sailed into it on the holiday of All Saints, and in the end it was named after him, Passage of Magellan.
Moreuse was later questioned in detail by Robert Fitzroy during an expedition on the Beagle, on which the young Charles Darwin also sailed. For decades, Spain and Chile argued over sovereignty, until Chile finally declared total control in 1843 with the construction of the Bulnes Fort. Because of the dangerous winds and currents, control of this passage meant supremacy over maritime trade before the construction of the Panama Canal.
BAB EL MANDEB
This narrow strait represents a vital capillary without which global energy and supply to Europe would simply stop, as it connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. The strait separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa and is the only route for ships sailing from the Indian Ocean to Suez. The name Bab El Mandeb means "Gate of Tears", which historically referred to the dangerous navigation through its cliffs.
Audiences around the world could see the strait in a Hollywood movie Captain Phillips which describes real events during a pirate attack on a tanker, since these waters can be very dangerous. However, the strait is not overly well known, even though it plays an extremely important role in modern trade. Today, more than 20.000 ships pass through this passage annually, which carries about 10 percent of the world's oil and over a billion dollars worth of goods.
Throughout history, the Romans, the Ottomans and the British fought for supremacy, and the key battle took place in 1941 when the Allies secured the strait against the Italian forces in East Africa. A significant crisis occurred in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, when the blockade of the strait prevented the flow of oil to Israel, demonstrating its power as "leverage". Today, the strait is controlled by Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea, with the constant presence of the military fleets of major powers such as the US, China and France.
The strait became globally decisive only in 1869 with the digging of the Suez Canal, because before that it was just a "dead end" at the edge of the ocean. Ferdinand Lesseps, the canal's builder, had to convince the British Crown that Bab El Mandeb would not become their greatest strategic nightmare, although history later proved the exact opposite.
MALAY STRAIT
"He who is the master of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice," noted the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa about the Malay Strait. This strait, which is only 2,8 km wide at its narrowest point, was used for thousands of years by local Malays and Arab traders before it was "discovered" for Europe by the Portuguese Diogo Lopes de Sequeira in 1509. Today, it is the main energy capillary of the world, the shortest route that connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, connecting the gigantic economies of the East with the rest of the planet.
An incredible fleet of more than 90.000 ships passes through this passage annually, which accounts for almost a quarter of the world's trade. Logically, the strait is the "bottleneck" of global security - any disruption of traffic in this narrow channel would cause an immediate collapse in the supply of energy to China and Japan.
For centuries, the Portuguese, Dutch and British fought for supremacy over Malacca, which culminated in the Battle of Malacca in 1641 when the Dutch captured the port from the Portuguese. During World War II, the strait was the scene of the Battle of the Malay Passage, one of the last naval engagements of World War II, when in 1945 British destroyers sank a Japanese cruiser Haguro. Today, sovereignty is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, with strict coordination against modern piracy.
Interestingly, the founder of modern Singapore, Stamford Raffles, "bought" the right to establish a trading post from the local sultan for an annual rent, realizing that "the control of this mud is worth more than entire kingdoms". According to legend, the city was named after a lion that a prince saw there, although lions never inhabited the Malay Peninsula.
photo: ap photoHISTORICAL AND ANY OTHER SIGNIFICANCE: Bosphorus
BOSPHORUS
"There is no such sight in the world as the Bosphorus", wrote Lord Byron, and although the Bosphorus is a literary inspiration, a tourist attraction and the dream of many people, it is still one of the most important roads in the world. More than 42.000 vessels pass through this narrow, winding passage annually, which makes it three times busier than the Suez Canal in terms of traffic density. The Bosphorus is at the same time one of the most difficult straits to navigate in the world, but ships carry huge amounts of oil and grain through it despite strong surface and deep currents.
photo: ap photoShips are waiting to pass through the Bosphorus
When the Persian emperor Xerxes I set out on a campaign against Greece, he ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge made of ships across the Bosphorus, but a storm destroyed his efforts. Enraged, he ordered his soldiers to scourge the sea with three hundred lashes and throw chains into the water to symbolically punish the unruly strait. This natural strait represents a unique geographical gap that physically separates Europe from Asia, while at the same time connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and Constantinople was built on its coast.
Ancient settlements grew into the center of the world in 330, when Emperor Constantine the Great founded the "New Rome" there, recognizing the Bosphorus as the most defensible point of the Christian ecumenism. Byzantium guarded this passage for a thousand years, while the Crusaders, the Genoese and finally the Ottomans, who took control of it after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, fought for it. Today, the strait is managed by Turkey in accordance with the Montreux Convention, balancing the interests of major powers and free navigation.
TAIWAN STRAIT
A regular guest of a Serbian tavern knows the name of the Taiwan Strait well because if a war between China and the USA is going to start somewhere in geopolitical considerations, this sea passage is the best candidate. This strip of water, which separates the island of Taiwan from the Asian mainland, is a key passage connecting the East and South China Seas. Today, the strait represents the dividing line between Beijing, which considers it its internal waters, and the US, which insists on "free navigation" in international space.
It is not unwise to note that for both Washington and Beijing this passage is crucial because control over it means domination over the entire Western Pacific. The Taiwan Strait is the busiest energy and logistics road in the world, through which the arteries of the global economy and cutting-edge technology pass. Almost half of the world's container ship fleet and about 88 percent of the largest ships by tonnage pass through this strait annually.
The history of the strait was marked by two crises in 1954 and 1958, when the forces of the People's Republic of China shelled the islands Quemoy i Matsu, bringing the world to the brink of war. During the third crisis in 1996, China conducted missile tests to intimidate voters in Taiwan, but the effect was the opposite - the turnout was record high, and the candidate Beijing wanted the least won. Tensions, trials and incidents between China and the US are very common on this sea stage. "The Taiwan Strait is the most dangerous point in the world," believes the author of the book Revenge of geography Robert Kaplan.
