The Red Sea has become the centre of a geopolitical crisis. How to secure one of the world’s most crowded trade routes?
Roughly 33% of all container ships pass through the Red Sea, which at its narrowest point is only 26 kilometers wide. It is a vulnerable location, as demonstrated in recent years when Yemen-based Houthis sank four ships and hijacked one. International trade through the Red Sea came to a standstill. In previous years it was Somali pirates who disrupted the region.
As a result, vessels traveling between Europe and Asia now have to sail around Africa, increasing the cost of global shipping and, by extension, consumer prices. For the EU, and especially for a trading nation like the Netherlands, the Red Sea is crucial for our supply chain. What measures should be taken to ensure trade security and stability in the Red Sea?
Speakers
Venezuela, ICE and the American ‘backyard’
Trump’s abduction of the Venezuelan leader Maduro is the latest escalation in relations between the United States and its neighboring countries. It ominously brings to mind the previous century, when the CIA orchestrated regime changes in the American ‘backyard’ at will. Is the region standing at a crossroads?
Hoe weerbaar zijn Nederland en Europa tegen grootschalige digitale ontwrichting? In deze editie van Techdenkers onderzoeken we de wereld van cyberwarfare, sabotage en staatshackers.
Ann Pettifor accurately predicted the 2006 credit crisis with her book The Coming First World Debt Crisis. In her new book The Global Casino, Pettifor warns how offshore financial markets, operating without democratic oversight, are gambling with the planet’s future.
