By Sameh Selim: Wars of ports and fjords

By Sameh Salem

 

By Sameh Selim: Wars of ports and fjords

When we start talking about this subject, which has caused many wars throughout history and was one of the pillars of some battles worldwide, which are the landlocked countries whose borders do not overlook oceans or seas, and the countries that tend to have closed seas are considered landlocked countries as well. These countries share geographical land borders with other countries and landlocked countries; they differ from one continent to another according to their area and terrain. In South America, there are Bolivia and Paraguay.

In the Asian continent, there are many landlocked countries such as Armenia and, Azerbaijan - Kazakhstan - Bhutan - Kyrgyzstan - Laos - Mongolia - Tajikistan - Turkmenistan - Nepal - Uzbekistan - the Republic of Artsakh - Afghanistan.

In Africa, Botswana - Burkina Faso - Zimbabwe - Zambia - Uganda - Suziland - South Sudan - Rwanda - Niger - Mali - Malawi - Lesotho - Ethiopia - Chad - Burundi - Central African Republic.

As in Europe, Macedonia - Hungary - Kosovo - Liechtenstein - Luxembourg - Serbia - Switzerland - Vatican - Moldova - Austria - Belarus - Slovakia - Czech Republic A - Andorra - San Marino.

Then we learn the importance of seaports and international shipping lanes, as they are the lifeblood of the countries bordering them, which have seaports that work to revive the movement of trade and the circulation of goods and containers. The state through which the shipping lane passes in return for fees paid by transiting ships, such as the Montreux Convention 1936, which granted Turkey control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, and the Constantinople Convention that was signed in 1888. The agreement's goal was to recognize Egypt's freedom and sovereignty over the Suez Canal under the umbrella of international agreements at the level. There have been many wars globally because of the shipping lanes, sea straits, and even international navigable rivers. It has a global outlet for trade, through which it travels to the seas and oceans. Even by constructing artificial navigation channels and corridors through drilling, a more strategic importance is given to the geographical location or to connecting closed seas with open seas such as the Suez Canal, the Bosphorus, and Dardanelles straits.

The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is one of its undeclared goals, which is to control large sea areas that make the Russian fleet free movement and acquire new seaports ahead of the Black Sea so that Russia does not remain a sea-locked country, as it seized before that the Kuril Islands of Japanese origin, which Russia occupied overlooking The Pacific Ocean and its seizure of the strategic Crimean peninsula, as well as marine resources such as gas, oil, fisheries, etc. So whoever controls the seas and oceans controls the world economy.

At the end of our conversation, it seems that there are existing wars and wars that could erupt shortly to control international trade routes, ports, and international shipping lanes, which must be protected by military force under the umbrella of international treaties regulated by international law under the supervision of the United Nations.