Geopolitically, the U.S. should take over Britain’s responsibilities in the Indian Ocean. Whether she will is another question.
Until recently the United States paid scant attention to the Indian Ocean as an important geographic fact of life. Many Americans are aware that the Persian Gulf harbors the world’s greatest reserves of oil, that much tea comes from Ceylon, and that Zanzibar used to be famous for its cloves —at least until successful Cuban- trained revolutionaries replaced cloves with Marx. If you followed the orbits of Mercury and Gemini you know that Madagascar is the site of the most important tracking station outside the United States, and that Mahe, on the Seychelles, is the site of another station. But few, if any Americans ever considered the Indian Ocean as a crucial strategic element in the conduct of our foreign policy.
Comments