maritime, trade and control give superior. in the world, no matter how big a trade on the land is, it won't find a better route for business than the sea. these are the words of alfred their mahan, the author of the influence of sea power upon history, which deals with importance of sea routes in maritime trade and control over them. about 200 million years ago, all of the lands on the earth. were connected in a supercontinent

named pengia, but gradually the unified continent started to be divided into different chunks. after tens of millions of years, the map of the earth looks like what of we see today with several separate continents. now the link between the continents on earth has been established in two ways, through land between asia, africa and europe and through the oceans in the americas, australia and antarctica. meanwhile some waterways, natural straights and artificial canals that were constructed later, had a strategic role in shaping the famous maritime corridors today for shipping to access the shortest and most cost effective rots. choke points are the links that connect the sea and land. today, having control over the strategic points gives a stock. machine powers to countries, some of

the most important waterways in the world are the malaka, hormos, gibraltar, and babal mandandob straits as well as man-made canals like the suas and panama. the panama canal was constructed in 1914, so ships in the atlantic ocean won't have to turn all all the way around south america. the straight of gibraltar connects the mediterranean to the atlantic ocean between spain and morocco. it's been officially under british control since 1713. the cape of good hope in the southern tip of africa. serves as a link

between the atlantic and indian oceans. this is part of the route for the ships that sail from the south asia to eastern coast of america. the bosforest trade in turkey connects the black sea to the sea of marmara and then the mediterranean. besides the straight facilitates countries like russia and ukraine with access to the mediterranean and high seas. we can argue the hormostrate that joins the persian gulf to the sea of oman is now considered the most vital waterway in the world for transit of energy. the suaz canal in egypt was constructed in 1869 by france and britain. besides its strategic importance, it is used to establish a link between europe to west asia and led to flourishing business into other natural straight. in the world, namely babab and

malakka. the malacka straight is located in southeast asia between the indonesian island of sumatra and the mele peninsula. many experts believe it's the most important maritime choke point in the world. according to the united nations conference on trade and development, about 60% of maritime trade passes through asia, the south. china sea alone carries 1/3ird of the global shipping. the route depends on the malaco straight which connects the south china sea and the pacific ocean to the indian ocean. the route is the artery of major economic powers in asia like japan, taiwan, south korea, and especially china, the second largest economy in the world. every year, over 100 thousand ships in the south china. a sea sail towards

the malaca straight, the babomandab straight, a straight between the gulf of aden and the red sea and joins asia to the horn of africa. here uh in the universe and you can see very close to the horn of africa, this babel mendeb is 11 miles wide its widest point. through this little stretch um every day flow about four million barrels of oil, coming around from over here you can't see it, but up through the from the persian gulf um and around oman down here through the indian ocean, gulf of aiden and up through the air through the suis canal into europe in the mediterranean elsewhere so... if the hypothetical route between the south china sea to europe is considered the most significant maritime trade corridor in the world and straights of malaca, hormos and gibralter as well as the suas canal and the british channel are the most vital trok points, but interestingly the common point

between all of them is that they all depend a strategic waterway, which is the gravity point of the vital maritime corridor, and that is abouble mondy. up straight: there is a us policy and that is maritime, okay? there is a maritime policy on the red sea, why? because there is a great deal at stake there, 10% of the global trade passes through the red sea, and then the 40% of the trade between africa, no, between asia and europe passes through el mandab, so there is a maritime security policy to make sure that it is safe, you know, by my last count uh... yearly close to what 800 billion dollars worth of goods and services pass through this small 19 kilometers babel mandap that's almost a trillion that's more than the gdp of

the entire region so they are concerned about security on the red sea. in fact, some experts even view bubbleman dub straight as the most... important waterway in the world, this is one of the most vital trade roots globally, and about two-thirds of the trade between china a europe passes through the red sea. the bubblemundab straight, which is known as the gate of the tears and some sources, is narrow choke point between yemen and djibooti, which separates the red sea from the gulf of aden and the arab sea. the narrowest choke point um between yemen and the horn of africa. so... you to sink a massive oil tanker in that choke point called the babandab, you could precipitate a fairly significant security and and trade crisis. perim, called mayun in arabic, is an island in the straight of mondub and carves to two separate entries to the straight. large ships

usually choose the wider route on the west of the pedium island. most of southern europeans economies are hostage to what happens in the babylon. and there's relative silence on this issue and it's inexplicable, so it goes more broadly beyond oil or just the region. geopolitically, the bubbleman dub straight has always been the subject of conflicts in the region. that's why it is called the most risky straight in the world, because any disruption in the maritime traffic and trade in this route will consequently disrupt major. business markets in asia and europe, a large portion of the natural gas and oil trade in the persian gulf is transferred to the suas canal to european countries. they have no option but to pass through the bubble mundob straight. the alternative for this

route winds all the way to the south of africa and onwards to the gibralcher straight. this route takes eight or nine days more. and the straight of hormz are major choke points for international trade, it's not just about oil, right? so most of the oil that comes from the gulf goes eastward, but what goes around the arabian peninsula um is about 20% of of the world's maritime trade in rice, about 20% of the world's maritime trade and wheat, about 30% of the world's maritime trade and fertilizers, so again the food security priority, the the need to be you know part and connected to global trade. flows in fact, completion and inauguration of the suaz canal in 1869, doubled the strategic value of bubblemon dub, because in case the canal is shut off for any reason, foreign ships that have sail through the suez canal

had no resort but to pass by the red sea litteral countries like saudi arabia and african countries like sudan and djibudi. every day, about 57 ships carrying natural oil and liquified gas pass through the bubble mandup straight. it is estimated to be about 5 million barrels, which needs 21,000 oil. tankers every year, amid all of this, the control over sensitive waterways in the world and providing their security for regional and international powers are indispensable for them. if you look at the uh the belton road initiative and you look at chinese trade volume coming from china uh through the red sea to europe etc. uh the straight line goes to jibuti, it doesn't necessarily go to jabal al ali port uh in dubai right? and so i think there's been a desire uh by uh the uae and and by dp world uh in particular to try to uh

shape the future of maritime trade to uh insert their fingers in that future uh rather than be holy supplanted by the chinese or other competitors in the space of 10 years. the geopolitical conditions in areas surrounding the bubble mundov straight are always ridden with tension. the unrest in some horn of africa countries and pirates in somalia, the war in yemen, and rivalry between foreign powers to increase their influence in the strategic point have led to the establishment of numerous military bases in countries in the vicinity of the straight, including somalia, eritria and djabooti. for instance, djaboot's strategic location in the western flank of the bubblemondop straight puts the country in line with during the cold war amid hostilities between the us and russia as the pioneers of the western and

eastern blocks because of its maritime significance. after the end of the cold war and the collapse of the soviet union for a short period of time, the tiny country of jibooti lost its vitality for a short period. competition and the arrival of the chinese military in jibuuti, the sort of tiny. state at the mouth of the red sea uh has really perked up ears uh both in the region in terms of bilateral relations with the chinese uh, but also not least in washington. but after incidents like 9-11 attacks and after terrorist groups like al-qaeda reared their heads in west asia and northeastern africa and the new phenomenon of sea pirates in somalia. once again jiboot coast became prominent as a strategic point for providing the maritime security and increasing the influence in the horn of africa. gradually,

scores of foreign military bases were set up in the country by the us, france, britain, china, japan, russia, and italy. the chinese have now completed the construction of pier close to here. do you expect to see a chinese aircraft carrier dot there? chinese submarines? i think... "the pier that the chinese have constructed will be capable of hosting just about any uh vessel within the chinese inventory. we should be very concerned about china's basing interest for having african ports and land bases and what that would mean for our country. but despite all other countries near the bubble mondav straight, none of the regional or international powers during the past decades has had military bases in yemen. in fact, foreign forces were militarily present in yemen a temporary basis. it gave foreign

countries a golden opportunity to establish the first military basis in the strategic region. in 2015, when the uae army decided to interfere in yemen and join the saudi led coalition. authorities in the country were well aware that unlike saudi arabia, which is yemen's northern neighbor, they wouldn't be able to support their allies in southern yemen from a long distance, and if you look at the entire african coast, you see uh their interest in ports in egypt, in jedda, down the entire african coast, asab, somaliland, punland. mogadishu, but also also i want to note that the there's another element here,

that is control of the entire south coast of yemen, right? uh, so the ports aren't necessarily operating there, but these are there are historical ports here, and the emirates have made this a priority, so if you look at this map again, uh, none of these ports in and of themselves are necessarily game changers, right, but i think the view from abu dhabi is, you piece together this constellation and you get to their primary goal. which is shaping the future of maritime trade in the western indian ocean. in fact, among the countries mentioned, yemen is more significant. yemen is an oil and gas rich country, its population is larger than the population of eritrea, and somalia, and has relatively larger and more developed ports near bubble mandab, including in aiden, dubab and mokka. we are basically interested in

yemen because of count. because of trade roots through the red sea and because of very significant income from arms sales to those who are party to the conflict, so at the same time that we appore the terrible human cost on the ground, our governments are continuing to support those are party to the conflict and continuing to sell them weapons which being used in yemen. since the beginning of the 20th century, yemen has been the scene of many. military and political developments. britain, which was yemen's protectorate since the previous century and the soviet union, as a leader of the eastern block, wielded the most influence in the country. since yemen's civil war in the 1960s and partitioning of the country into northern and southern parts,

the soviet leaders recognized the socialist government of south yemen and granted annual military. and financial aid to the country. they also sent military advisors and diplomats in order to increase their share on the bubble mundub straight. two decades later, the soviet union's ties with the northern part of yemen improved. the northern yemen's army, under the command of ali abdullah saleh, received military equipment worth hundreds of millions of dollars and loans from moscow every year. it had air force. scud ballistic missiles and armored equipment that would give the country a military edge over the regional countries near bubble mundab. after the collapse of the soviet union in 1991, the leaders of northern and southern yemen, that had formed a unified yemen, were concerned that the financial and military aid from their former ally would be

cut off. in no time, another country entered yemen. under the pretext of fighting terrorism, it was the united states. the us and its western and regional allies sent thousands of militants from arab countries to afghanistan in the 1980s and succeeded in pushing back the soviet army and toppling its communist government, but this time it was threatened with the flames of... terrorism and extremism ignited by itself. the al-qaeda terrorist group reared its head the conflict in afghanistan. secondly, and maybe even primarily is the fact that yemen has been for years the home of al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, which is why dan benjamin made it

point to visit yemen when he was the head of counter terrorism state department. and aqap as they're called. have taken up residence way out here and this is the the empty quarter so there's not a lot out there um but aqap has found a very nice safe haven because yemen is really not very well governed in the best of years. al-qaida militants have chosen the horn of africa to sudan and the deserts in yemen as part of their battle zones. after three decades they're still active in eastern and southern parts of yemen. as al-qaeda expanded its military activities in west asia and north africa, the us also stepped up its activities in yemen. after the uss cold warship bombing on october 12th, 2000, in a suicide attack by al-qaeda, when 17 us

marines were killed, the cooperation with us reached its peak. by the flow of us weapons and cash and the support for the security services, the former yemani army under the command of theen president of yemen, ali abdullah saleh stood up against al-qaeda. the conflict in yemen created both immediate and long-term strategic needs for saudi arabia and the uae, and by the way, qatar and turkey were also a part of the coalition at that time. turkey still is, qatar is not. um, in the immediate term, saudi arabia began to see... the conflict in yemen is very much focused its competition with iran, they didn't want to wake finish the conflict in yemen and wake up to find iran on the other side of the red sea, and at the time, iran had periodically... access to naval presence in asab and eritrea, iran had a strong link in had strong links in sudan, and so the very beginning of the yemen conflict, saudi arabia felt the immediate need to sort of flip these

countries. after 9/11 and us military invasion of afghanistan and iraq in 2001 and 2003, the military command of al-qaeda and afghanistan became extremely weak. the group's activities were all almost limited to iraq to deal with us forces. it forced us to remarkably decrease its military presence in the region and reduce its aid to yemen. after that period, we witnessed new force that stepped into interven in yemen equasians. that was none other than saudi arabia. saudi arabia supported ali abdullah saleh to fight the huthis in saada governors and suppress the shias. yemen situation, the the the the the prime share of blame is on the shoulder

the leader of that government, abdullah saleh, the fact that that he brought in two armies into his country, the saudi army and the american army to attack his country and created this issue with saada for the six time, this is the sixth war with the with the people of the hutis. and with the issue of the south and of course he laid the foundation for the rise of al-qaida and the salavy in yemen. the developments led to the arab spring in 2011 and the popular uprising in yemen, which toppled ali abdullah salih's government. saudi arabia envisaged no option to keep saul in power, so it replaced him with his deputy abu rabu mansur hadi as his pawn in sana. but yemani shias formed in alliance with various sunni factions in northern and central yemen and established a powerful political movement named the

anceurilla. 10 years of chaos and war in syria, the ruins left in syria, who benefits from the continuation of this war? what is the view of the west, particularly america towards war in syria and the support? of many countries for creating chaos in syria, why syria, a different narrative.

we must not become part of south africa's problem. we must remain part of their solution. we must not aim to impose ourselves our solutions, our favorites in south africa. damn it, we have favorites in south africa, the favorites in south africa are the people who are being repressed by that ugly white regime, we have favorites. i also want to say a word about the situation in israel, the more we learned about the attack, the more horrifying it becomes. more than one thous, one innocent lives lost including at least 27 americans, these guys make, they make

al-qaeda look pure, the... pure the pure evil, i said from the beginning, the united states make no mistake about it, stands with israel, united states stands for this. one you're watching news from your host.

press of headlines, palestinian officials say people of gaza suffer from various types of waterborn diseases to israel's bombing of water treatment plants and sewage lines. hamos resistance movement says it will commit to any decision by the international court of justice for a cease fire in gaza if israel complies as well. antiox resistance groups conduct fresh drone strikes against american forces in the country hitting us military bases in ariel and alassad.