Hello, Djibouti

Back in the old days, before the Suez Canal was built, a trip from Europe to India was very circuitous and took forever. But at least the passage routes were wide. After the Suez Canal, the route got shortened significantly, but it also meant the passage via the Red Sea was very narrow.

That very narrowness led to a surge in piracy in the region, and the associated hostage taking and ransoms have became notorious in recent years. The Tom Hanks movie, Captain Philips, was based on one such incident. Many countries, including India, have sent their navies to patrol the seas in the region.


Given the area’s strategic importance, a tiny country you’d never hear of otherwise, Djibouti is now “home to more foreign bases than any other country”, writes Bruno Macaes!
So who has military bases in Djibouti? France (who is now moving out due to budgetary constraints), China, Japan, the US, Italy and Saudi Arabia… for now. In fact, this is the only foreign base for both China and Japan! But wait, there are others in the pipeline: Djibouti has asked Turkey to build one as well. Russia and India are considering having a base (maybe because of its strategic value, or maybe it’s because the US and China have one). As Macaes says:
“If (Russia and India build one), every major global power will have a Djibouti footprint and the country will resemble a live model of state conflict in the 21st century.”

Will Djibouti become a flashpoint of the future, the location of some “limited conflict”?

Comments

  1. Ramiah KumarJanuary 22, 2018 at 1:59 PM

    It is very peculiar information to me. Significance not clear. If by chance this blog has zeroed in on some place which is going to be a frequent news item in the near future, then it would be far-sighted info sharing, of course.

    ReplyDelete

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