The world's undersea cable network closely overlaps its maritime trade routes. Important sea passages can therefore be data chokepoints as well as shipping chokepoints. The internet may feel intangible, but much of its international traffic depends on physical cables laid across the seabed. Damage or deliberate cutting at concentrated routes can disrupt communications as well as commerce. The comparison connects carrier-era trade protection to the continuing strategic importance of maritime infrastructure.
Notable Point · 1:02:09-1:02:46
Undersea cables turn trade chokepoints into data chokepoints
A cable map shows that the same maritime geography can concentrate merchant traffic and the physical infrastructure of global communications.