After decades of calm, the storm has returned to the oceans. In the Red Sea, Houthi militias launched dozens of attacks on buildings with drones and missiles, disrupting 90% of container activity in the Suez Canal. The Black Sea is infested with mines. Ukraine hopes this year to eject the Russian navy from Crimea, its base since Catherine II. The Baltic and North Seas face a shadow war over pipelines and cable sabotage. (Rebroadcast).
As for Asia, it is the scene of the greatest construction of naval power since World War II as China exerts enormous pressure on Taiwan in its desire for unification and the United States seeks to prevent a Chinese invasion . So many events which are not a coincidence, but bear witness to the profound change taking place on the planet Oceans. The rivalry between superpowers and the decay of global rules and norms are resulting in an intensification of geopolitical tensions. For the first time since the Cold War, the oceans are now a contested zone. Rivalry between naval forces is making a comeback. Technologies are evolving that will transform naval combat. What adaptations?
Guests:
Matthieu Duchatel, Director of International Studies at the Institut Montaigne. Specialist in economic security and strategic issues in Asia
Admiral Marc-Antoine de Saint Germain, in charge of the digital transformation of the navy and former commander of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle
Cyrille Coutansais, director of the Research Department of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Navy. “The sea, an infographic”, CNRS-éditions.
