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Running Head: the STRATEGIC and GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS of CANALS Running head: THE STRATEGIC AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CANALS The Strategic and Geopolitical Implications of Canals Robert Parra Sanchez California Maritime Academy THE STRATEGIC AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CANALS 1 Abstract This thesis examines the geopolitical implications of large international shipping canals in the summation to the conclusion that canals are constructed out of a nation’s strategic necessity and are then considered by nations as strategic assets due to their altering of maritime dynamics through the physical change to geography. This thesis employs four regional case studies to highlight the geopolitical effects that canal construction brings as well as how their implementation and usage is intertwined with the economic and strategic goals of various states. Specifically, this thesis uses historical and contemporary contexts to showcase the Suez Canal in Egypt and the Panama Canal in Panama, as well as the proposed Nicaragua Canal in Nicaragua, the Kra Canal in Thailand, and the Salwa Canal in Saudi Arabia. This thesis will relate its explanations of state behavior to the concepts of geography, seapower, and strategy, in order to meet their established economic and martial goals via interaction with canals. THE STRATEGIC AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CANALS 2 Introduction Man-made international shipping canals are not just simply artificial waterways that vessels use to easily traverse regions but are strategically constructed agents of world powers and contested assets that bring geopolitical attention to a region. The mechanisms of globalization that generate the construction of new canals are phenomena that stem from shifting interests of trade, logistics, security, and regional dynamics over time. In global maritime studies, focus is directed often to a chokepoint, which is a point of limited transit due to geological features. As shipping is bottlenecked into a strait, the area is prone to being blockaded by a state to advance military or political goals. By using force to stop all trade or that of ships of a certain flag, the chokepoint becomes a strategic asset, thus making its ownership and control equate to power. If geography naturally provides chokepoints, then the cutting of land for the sake of maritime transportation establishes a breathing point, where spheres of trade that were previously suffocated by long journeys around continents become united by new shipping lanes. Therefore, having control over a canal, or a strong presence in a region that has a canal, adds to the power of a state. Like a chokepoint, a canal can be blockaded for strategic regions, but what makes a canal different is that it is built on purpose. Tolls can be imposed, naval responses can be hastened, and other shipping routes can become undesirable due to shorter courses or lesser tolls. Canals add to the narratives of regional politics for at times their construction and control were the causes of armed conflict. Case studies of major canals provide examples of power projection by the construction and ownership of canals from years past, as well as to provide insight to proposed canals and how they can affect international and regional dynamics today. Canal case studies will initially be organized by region, including the history of that region’s canal, disputes over the canal, the THE STRATEGIC AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CANALS 3 usage of the canal today, and then how it plays into international affairs today. Regional case studies will also explain proposed canals, and the affairs of its construction, opposition, and objectives. Accounts of history, government reports, scholarly articles, and local news accounts are the sources from which this thesis pulls its conclusions. The first region covered will be Central America. The Panama Canal largely shaped the founding of Panama as a country and continues to add much to the national GDP. The Panama Canal’s monopoly of passage between the Americas has been periodically threatened by a possible canal project through Nicaragua. In contemporary times, this is a proposed link in China’s One Belt-One Road Initiative, a worldwide infrastructure project with the aim to develop logistical infrastructure to facilitate Chinese engagement of foreign markets. Studying the recent attempt of dredging a canal through Nicaragua and its failure reveals how East Asian diplomatic issues made their way across the Pacific. The next region will be that surrounding the Suez Canal in Egypt, which connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Completed in 1869, it was the first canal of its kind; one that was made possible by the difficult process of digging and dredging across a long stretch of land. Over the decades it has been a vital passage for Afro- Eurasia. In both 20th century World Wars, the Suez Canal was a strategic objective desired by the participating belligerents and was a contested asset during the multiple Cold War-era conflicts endured by Egypt. Its analysis will provide a solid base for understanding a canal’s importance to warfare and commerce. Then, the Kra Canal in Thailand has considerable momentum to be constructed, which would reroute trade away from the congested and pirate-infested Strait of Malacca by splitting Thailand at its thinnest point. This project is also part of China’s interests and is funded as such, and would change the status quo of regional dynamics, including negatively affecting prosperity in Singapore which profits on Malaccan sea traffic, as well as THE STRATEGIC AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CANALS 4 further fuel domestic unrest in southern Thailand. Finally, the proposed case of a Saudi Arabian canal to literally turn its neighbor Qatar into an island should be analyzed as a purely strategic operation, as it would project strength in the Saudi-Iranian power vacuum in the Middle East. Qatar has lost many diplomatic ties due to allegedly sponsoring terrorism and being allied with Iran, and permanently being isolating from land-based commerce navigation by Saudi Arabia caries economic and strategic losses. These case studies will provide the conclusions of the research questions presented if they are looked at with multiple perspectives and consider all implications of their existence to all involved parties. The maps included at this thesis’s conclusion highlight the regions analyzed and mark the general areas of canal development (Wind Surf Addicts, 2018). Literature Review This thesis will be referring to a variety of sources to express its themes and convey its resolution. In its efforts to prove that policymakers and strategists should see shipping canals as strategic assets and dynamic mechanisms of geopolitics, this thesis will be focusing on the crossroads of the field’s theories, historic examples, and current events. In all case studies and further analysis, this thesis will employ government sources, journal articles, historical references, theses, and statements from relevant individuals or entities. Finding links between the local, national and international implications of canals will help illustrate this thesis’s goal, so therefore news and sources of multiple levels of outlook must be procured and analyzed. The case study of canals in Central America depicts rivaling global agendas, repercussions of strategies, and how seemingly unrelated cases of international relations become intertwined. References to overarching themes THE STRATEGIC AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CANALS 5 Before looking at certain case studies, some themes should be explained to augment understanding of findings. “Naval Power and National Security: The Case for the Maritime Strategy” highlights a baseline of why nations take to the sea to conquest territory. As canals are as much about trade and transportation as they are about strategy, it is convenient to invite a source that lays out both military and commercial factors (Brooks, 1986). A mechanism common throughout many topics of global studies, and especially this thesis, is the People’s Republic of China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative. The initiative lays out an integrated national strategy to develop logistical infrastructure throughout the world, facilitating trade with all roads and sea lanes leading back to China. Along with railways, roads, and bridges, canals have been factored in the initiative. This global infrastructure project is well defined in the report “Understanding China’s Belt and Road Initiative”, which highlights China’s role in the canals of Central America as well as other regions (Cai, 2017). Maritime trade is often dependent on the freedom of passage through chokepoints, and Basil Gemond’s Maritime Policy journal article “The geopolitical dimension of maritime security” illustrates how canals are man-made chokepoints and add a new aspect of importance to a region (Germond, 2015). Central American case references Central America is a well-rounded case study region because it includes a past associated with canal-based geopolitics, a potential competing canal, and both regional and extra-regional bodies lobbying for their interests. Sabonge and Sanchez (2014) in The Panama Canal turns 100: history and possible future scenarios highlights Panama’s inception as a state propped up by American interests in trans-oceanic travel and explains how that its economics as a nation are defined by its canal to this day. Fortify the Panama Canal by 20th century naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan gives insight to the original thought of the United States and their intentions of THE STRATEGIC AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CANALS 6 building and owning the Panama Canal strictly in strategic terms (Mahan, 1911). This first-hand account from over a century ago helps build on the narrative of why canals are being rivaled and bolstered today. The article “Panama as Palimpsest: The Reformulation of the ‘Transit Corridor’ in a Global Economy” helps illustrates how Panama is considerably reliant on its canal to define its national economy and internal politics, and goes to show how disruptive a rival, such as a canal in Nicaragua, could be (Sigler, 2014).
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