NAVAL BLOCKADES REVISITED: CHOKEPOINT CONTROL IN 21ST-CENTURY AND GREAT POWER COMPETITION

Abstract

Combining the elements of classical maritime strategies with the current trends of hybrid warfare, Naval blockades have been rediscovered as a potent tool of coercion and economic pressure in the twenty-first century. The paper discusses the origins and development of the blockade doctrine in terms of the historical precedents, such as those during the Napoleonic Wars and World War II sequences, and the modern cases in such crucial sea chokepoints like the South China Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb, and Taiwan Strait. It details how states are using laws and legal gray-zone strategies and sophisticated surveillance as crutches of authority to gain control over important trade routes but not declare a war, which makes a huge economic mess and transitions food security concerns to new, elevated levels. The existing international law fails to control such vague methods that make miscalculation and destabilization of the region more likely. This paper recommends a policy of updated maritime rules, increased watch in chokepoints, and powerful, robust diplomatic mechanisms in crisis management. This paper reveals the importance of chokepoint control as the focus of great power competition and the security of the world maritime economy by relying on the lessons of the past and the current practice.