YEMEN

THE GEO-STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE RED SEA

 Via YemenPost

The ARABIAN Peninsula Seas contain two of the most important strategic waterways in the world: Bab Al-Mandab and Strait of Hormuz. Without them much of the geopolitics of the Horn of AFRICA and SOUTH WEST ASIA would make little sense.

The Red Sea is moderately integrated into the regional level but it is much more deeply integrated into international level. National pride, regional developments, international commerce and worldwide political events all have played a part in shaping the Red Sea Region as it exists today.
The “new” Red Sea Region should be characterized by regional cooperation. The aim should bring people, businesses and organizations of the region together, and providing added value to both people and businesses.

BAB-AL-MANDAB, THE GATE OF TEARS

YEMEN`S Highlands – which include the ARABIAN Peninsula’s highest mountain, Nabi Shuayb (3.760 metres) – result from the formation, millions of years ago, of the Great Rift Valley system. They constitute a spectacular upland area which forms the backbone of the ARABIAN Peninsula, along its western flank. The escarpment edge overlooks the coastal strip, a continuation south to the Bab al Mandab Strait where the island of Perim constitutes a stepping-stone between AFRICA and ASIA.

In Arabic, Bab al Mandab, also Bab- el-Mandeb, Bab al Mandib or Bab al Mandeb means “Gate of Tears” referring to the strait’s precarious navigation. The distance across is about 20 miles (32 km) wide from Ras Menheli in Yemen to Ras Siyan in Djibouti. The island of Perim divides the strait into two channels, of which the eastern, known as Bab Iskander (Alexander’s Strait), is 2 miles (3 km) wide and 16 fathoms (30 m) deep, while the western, or Dact-el-Mayun, has a width of about 16 miles (25 km) and a depth of 170 fathoms (310 m). Near the coast od Djibouti lies a group of smaller islands known as the “Seven Brothers”. There is a surface current inwards in the eastern channel, but a strong undercurrent outwards in the western channel.

BAB AL-MANDAB: STRATEGIC LINK BETWEEN THE INDIAN OCEAN AND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, VIA THE RED SEA AND THE SUEZ CANAL. 

Bab al-Mandab is at the tip of the South-East end of the Red Sea, towards the INDIAN Ocean. From there, ASIA and AFRICA seem fairly close to another. The passage is 40 miles long, and is sprinkled with small islands such as the Islands of the Seven Brothers, and Perim Island which splits the strait in two, thus creating a navigation lane for oceanic ships on one side, and a coastal navigation lane on the other. These little islands are frequently used by fishermen, as stopovers or shelters as they cross the strait.

The marine currents which flow through the strait are “complex phenomena”, and this particular strait is quite special. In the North, the Suez Canal bears its name for a reason: it’s a canal, not a channel. Water exchanges happen here, from the South.

Contrary to common believe, the Red Sea isn’t completely engulfed. Currents coming from the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden deliver the essential part of the nutrient salts (or fertilizer) the Red Sea needs, and keep flowing towards the North, slowly dwindling as they are absorbed by phytoplankton.

The Red Sea acts like an evaporation pond; as the water evaporates, the seawater salinity’s increases and it becomes colder, therefore denser. The water then sinks deeper down and forms deep sea currents which cross the Red Sea in the other direction: from North to South, finally leaving the strait, “kind of like a moving walkway”. Consequently, the major part of the Red Sea’s biomass is concentrated in the South.

NAVIGATION CHALLENGES AS WELL AS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE 

As for navigating, crossing this channel is far from easy! Three different forces drive the currents: the monsoon, the tide and the local winds. Therefore, what characterizes these currents is variability from the dominance of one of those three. The monsoon is a periodical atmospheric current found in the inter-tropical zone of the globe. It is due to the crossing of the equator by trade winds. In this part of the globe, the monsoon is quite probably the determining factor when it comes to meteorology.

During the monsoon – from May to October- in the area of Bab al- Mandel, the sea level in the Gulf of Aden falls and tends to become lower in the Red Sea, and the surface current flows in a South, South- East direction. From November to April, the opposite phenomenon occurs and the surface current goes North, North-West.

During times of strong wind and lively water, when the wind is blowing against the current’s direction, the surface of the water becomes highly agitated. Legends warning navigators weren’t created simply to give the traveler an empty scare; places such as the “Gate of Tears” require the utmost attention and care upon crossing.

SUEZ CANAL ACCESS 

Another major aspect of this bottleneck lies in its strategic importance. Bab al- Mandab, the channels of Ormuz and the Dardanelles are the only three navigable straits which cannot be circumvented, which makes them crucially important. The Bab al-Mandab passage became important when the Suez Canal was opened for navigation – thus making the Red Sea an optional route allowing ships to avoid going around AFRICA, through the Cape of Bonne Espérance (Good Hope). .

The two colonial powers of the time, FRANCE and ENGLAND, created two naval bases to regulate its access: Djibouti and Aden, which to this day remain the two locks guarding the channel.”

SUEZ CANAL AND BAB AL-MANDAB STRAIGHT VITAL FOR MARITIME TRADE 

The main shipping lanes use the channel to the west of Perim Island. It is estimated that approx. 18.000 ships transit Bab al-Mandab annually, or about 50 a/day, or 33 million barrels of oil transit daily. Approx 30 percent of the world’s oil, including all of the oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf heading west passes through Bab al-Mandab which is in the territorial waters of YEMEN, DJIBOUTI and ERITREA. Of these, YEMEN is well placed to exercise direct control of the shipping lanes. Yemen is a non-OPEC oil producer and liquid gas exporter whose economy depends heavily on its development.

Background Information: 

IRAN-IRAQ: PIPELINE TO SYRIA UPS ANTE IN PROXY WAR WITH QATAR

http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/crisis-qatars-transition.html

IRAN - IRAQ - SYRIA GAS PIPELINE AGREEMENT  A “WIN WIN” SITUATION, BUT NOT FOR QATAR AND TURKEY

http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/pipelineistan.html

IS THE TRANS ARABIAN PIPELINE “TAPLINE” THE ANSWER TO FOREIGN INTERVENTION IN THE SYRIAN UPRISING? At http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html

ENORMOUS GAS FINDINGS AND PROSPECTS OF OIL FINDINGS COMPLICATE TURKEYS STANCE IN THE REGION. At http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html

REGIME CHANGE IN SYRIA WOULD DIMINISH RUSSIA’S IMPORTANCE AS GAS EXPORTER AS WELL AS NAVAL PRESENCE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/01/syrias-destiny-sealed.html and

http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/01/strait-of-hormuz-and-syria.html

The strait sees almost all of the trade between the EUROPEAN UNION and ASIAN economic powerhouses like CHINA, JAPAN, and INDIA. All of maritime trading nations which use the SUEZ CANAL have an interest that Bab al-Mandab remains open and safe for shipping. Closure of Bab Al-Mandab would have costly implications on global economies.

The States bordering the Arabian Peninsula seas also have an obvious interest in preserving peace and stability in the region. However, too little attention has been given to the significance of proximity of the southern Red Sea region which includes highly volatile parts of the Horn of AFRICA at one end, and the Arab- Palestinian interface at the other.

POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT AND SUBSEQUENT REGIONAL INSTABILITY?

Although the Sea is a major cause of rivalry and conflict by virtue of geographical configuration, physical resources, and global location, it could be also unifying factor during the forthcoming decade.

The guest for regional security, problems of environmental management, and a common desire to limit outside power interference could form the basis for fruitful regional cooperation, and recognition of common problems which can only be solved by regional cooperation.

Thus the sea which is a potential source of disunity is also a powerful argument for cooperation.

The Red Sea states may yet to recognize the value of unified political front on matters associated with the sea while gaining space for formulation ideas for their own development. It is the geo-strategic significance of the Red Sea as resource which the Red Sea countries themselves have yet to explore to the full.

But as long as they remain disunited they will be unable to do so. The alternative to conflict resolution and practical cooperation between coastal states will be a period of costly confrontation and environmental deterioration.

According to the recent single origin hypothesis, the strait of Bab al Mandab was probably witness to the earliest migrations of modern humans, which occurred roughly 60,000 years ago. At this time, the oceans were much lower and the straits were much shallower or dry, allowing a series of emigrations along the southern coast of ASIA.

FRESH LOOK AT THE RED SEA REGION AND THE BATTLE FOR YEMEN

Archaeological studies have revealed cultural connections between the two sides of the Red Sea dating to prehistory. The issue has still not been properly addressed. The studies focus on the mitochonodrial haplogroup HV1 that is present in both the ARABIAN PENINSULA and EAST AFRICA, a finding concordant with archaeological records suggesting intensive maritime trade in the Red Sea from the sixth millennium BC onwards. Closer exchanges are apparent between the Horn of AFRICA and YEMEN, while EGYPTIAN HV1 haplotypes seem to be more similar to the Near Eastern ones.

The autosomal and uniparental data from ETHIOPIA and SOMALIA strongly leans us toward the proposition of admixture of two very distinct population, one in EAST AFRICA (“Ancestral East Africans”), and EURASIAN group which are likely to have been intrusive. The genetic distance between the EURASIAN inferred ancestral component, which is nearly identical to that of southern ARABIA, and other EURASIAN components is not so large that is seem plausible that there could have a separation during Pleistocene.

In other words, there was a lot of Holocene migration; it had something to do with agricultural and pastoral lifestyles brought by ARABIANS to the Horn of AFRICA within the last 10.000 years. Simple ecology imposed a limit upon the expansion of these peoples into more classical lush tropical AFRICA. Just like the Arabian-AEA hybrid peoples, other would encounter ecological, and also demographic, limits on the margins of the Semitic and Cushitic dominated territories in the Horn of Africa. And then of course there were the Nilotes