Ep 83: Aaron O’Connell on 'Geopolitics 101'
School of War
00:00
Mahan's Theory of Interior Lines on the Ocean and Sea Lanes of Communication
In the age of sale blockades were conducted by sailing ships where everybody's using the same wind, and you could wait offshore while you blocked in your enemies commerce. But once we get steamships now ships can't wait offshore forever. They need many more facilities and infrastructure to conduct a blockade they not just need coal but they need to be in the same way as the ships are. So Mahan realizes blockading or at least stopping commerce is essential, but that it can't be done the same way anymore. He then proceeds to reason if you can close down the choke points, you can control the trade all over the world. You can have a point-a-list approach to
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