is it maybe that americans don’t think in those terms, but it is more relevant to russian strategic thinking, becuase they don’t have those?
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MTZ@lemmy.world 15 hours agoCan someone explain this? I’ve never heard the the term referring to anything other than a port that doesn’t freeze over but it clearly has another meaning that I can’t figure out or even find with a search
rapchee@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
mkwt@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
It’s a real geopolitical problem for Russia. Russia got screwed by geography in terms of natural harbors that don’t freeze over in the winter. It’s why they’ve always had a crap navy, going way back into the imperial days.
Right now, the Russian Navy is based in Murmansk (brrrr. limited routes to get out into Atlantic) and the Black Sea. The Black Sea is bad for them because Turkey (a NATO member) makes sure to maintain total control of what passes through the Bosphorous.
Part of what Russia did in Syria during the civil war netted them a lease on a base on the Mediterranean. That could have had some use for power projection, but I think they lost it when a certain opthalmologist was expelled.
Anyhow, it’s hilarious when the trolls posing as MAGA Americans bring this up, because real Americans just take their total abundance of ports that don’t freeze over completely for granted. That’s why I point out secondary, less busy port cities on the Gulf of Mexico, where the water is actually pretty warm (instead of just not freezing over). Just to highlight how good the US has it. Even if we were forced to give up Norfolk and Coronado, there are plenty of other suitable places we could have naval bases.
MTZ@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Very interesting! Thank you!