311 Ángel Gómez de Ágreda Climate Change in the Arctic: Beyond the North Pole all the more significant and critical the resources or the markets with which they are communicating18. As we shall see further on, in addition to the major role of the coastal communication channels is the importance of those that connect to the interior regions of the Eurasian continent, which to date have had very little access to international markets. The emphasis that is being placed by the superpowers on the development of the “New Silk Route”19 is just one of many efforts aimed at tapping into the resources of the inland regions of the continent. In the world of the 21st Century, more so than in previous times, connections are even more important than hubs. The connections made between centres of production and consumption are fundamental; especially now that production offshoring focuses on knowledge and management capability as of prime importance, and transport costs have been reduced to such minimum levels that they represent but a marginal fraction of the final cost of the goods. All of this implies that the control of transit routes will be the really crucial element. Dominance of the lines of communication is becoming the strategic cornerstone of the policies of all countries involved; as they strive to maintain their activities or to deny access to present or possible future rivals. It is not surprising that the superpowers feel that anything that threatens freedom of movement must constitute their greatest threat. In the case of the United States, the perception of the development by China of tactics and techniques known as A2/AD20 (anti-access/area-denial challenge) in the Western Pacific gave rise to the Air-Sea Battle Concept21; or operations aimed at countering the interdiction capabilities of Chinese missiles and submarines. China, for it s part, also fears that the Americans could curtail or limit their access to international routes. The concept of the “chains of islands”22, archipelagos 18 For a greater understanding of the present-day reality of the Indian region we strongly recommend close reading of KAPLAN, Robert, “Monsoon. The Indian Ocean and the future of American Power”, Ed. El hombre del tres, ISBN 9788494016158. 19 For a recent commentary on the above, see IMAS, Eugene, “The new Silk Road to nowhere”, The Diplomat, 18 December 2013, http://thediplomat.com/2013/12/the-new-silk-road-to-nowhere/ 20 FREIER, Nathan, “The emerging Anti-Access/Area-Denial Challenge”, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 17 May 2012. http://csis.org/publication/emerging-anti-accessarea-denial- challenge 21 GÓMEZ DE ÁGREDA, Ángel, “Air-Sea Battle concept”, Revista de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica, October 2010. A non-classified version of the original concept can be consulted on the web-page:http:// www.defense.gov/pubs/ASB-ConceptImplementation-Summary-May-2013.pdf 22 GÓMEZ DE ÁGREDA, Ángel, “Proyección geoestratégica de la Marina china”, Revista General
REVISTA IEEE 3
To see the actual publication please follow the link above