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New SITREPFeb 22The Locked Sea

Strategic
SITREPs

Situation Reports & Analysis
Indo-Pacific

The Locked Sea

China has built the world's largest navy. It has not escaped its geography. Why the island chains, the Malacca Strait, and a rearming Japan mean Beijing's maritime power is more constrained than it appears.

Europe

Buffers, Tripwires, and a Continent That Refuses the Deal

Geography still explains the war. Politics now explains why it will continue.

Europe

Britain Between Worlds

Why America inherited Britain's strategic position. The fundamental problem in the modern British–American relationship is strategic rather than sentimental.

Indo-Pacific

Malacca Strait

The Malacca Strait remains one of the most critical maritime chokepoints in the global system, carrying 25-30% of global seaborne trade. Recent piracy incidents and great-power competition have refocused attention on this strategic artery.

Middle East

Iran's Northern Approach

Why geography makes occupation unlikely and politics makes it harder. The only realistic land approach is also the least politically permissive.

South America

Venezuela: Geography as Strategic Constraint

The situation in Venezuela should be understood not as an isolated intervention, but as part of a wider re-ordering of power as the world moves toward multipolarity.

Horn of Africa

Somaliland: Geography as Strategy

Israel's recognition of Somaliland reflects a broader pattern: states hedging against uncertainty by securing geography and access near critical maritime chokepoints.

North Atlantic

The GIUK Gap

The GIUK Gap remains one of the most enduring geographic constraints in global naval strategy, controlling Russia's access to the North Atlantic.

© 2026 SITREP. Geography explains power.

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