Red Sea at Crossroads

Brimming with Life: The Red Sea means many different things to different people:
A divider of continents, or Tanker Alley as it is known for its merchantable profession, has been a crucial waterway every since man first took to the sea and boats. It is a history full of adventure, excitement and discovery. One such account reads

..."The journey took through remote mountains ranges dissected by mystifying wadis, among isolated people with rich cultural backgrounds, seemingly untouched by time, and into mysterious and rarely seen power and beauty of this Desert Sea Region…"

So barren along its shores, yet so brimming with life – there are now new wonders to be found in its southern depths in the Yemeni Red Sea realm. One seldom sees such striking display of reefs diversity. A world of endless variety, shapes, shadows and lights. The Red Sea harbors a wealth of endemic marine creatures – one fifth of the species found nowhere else. One can marvel at the forest of algae growing like popular trees from the reef of Yemeni Jebal Zuqar Island. This unique desert sea is a place that seems to protect – even to enshrine - the life of the reefs. With designs beyond imagination – the Red Sea presents an ever shifting kaleidoscope of colors, and behavior. An endless variety of configurations, corals, serving as castles, where fish and water have became one. While the southern half of the Red Sea is set amid some of the most isolated territory in the world, this area is one of the most interesting coral ecosystems in the world.

No water has greater historical interest than the Red Sea – 1300 miles long with the Gulf of Suez – at its northern reach extended by the man – made Suez Canal to provide navigation from the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. It is one of the first large bodies of water mentioned in recorded history. A major traffic alley today, it is serving as outlet to the Oceans for its littoral states, and on its other hand as a through- fare that links the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. The Red Sea served as bridge between richest area of Europe and the Far East but never managed to attract to its shores any significant portion of the wealth which flowed through the waterway. The Red Sea is only moderately integrated into the regional level but much more deeply integrated into international level.

Profound changes have been occurring at the core of the international system, the effects of these changes will continue to tipple through the international system and affect relations between the powers of the external powers and the Red Sea littoral states. Issues of free navigation, nuclear disarmament, environmental pollution will remain of paramount concerns to the states of the region.

The "new" Red Sea region
Development Strategy for Value Creation: getting the Tools, breaking the rules, and making the difference.

Any future Red Sea initiative should provide added value to both people and businesses. To provide a solid base for future strong regional and sub-regional system to be created in the area during the next decade. But this will be only possible if littoral states will overcome their weakness and will consolidate economic, political and strategic cooperation among themselves. Such cooperation would not only foster peace and stability in the area but will also increase the prosperity and welfare of the peoples of the area.

The Red Sea region should look to their own interest down the path of regional cooperation and seek out new qualities in relationship and cooperation. Foreign policies should be geared for maximum maneuver in the global economy in order to connect local needs with global resources. Such policies should be aimed at economic growth and employment opportunities, sustainable development models through mobilization of resources.

Today two distinct worlds, the traditional and modern, prevail in every sphere of regions life, including scientific and technological. These two worlds will have to come closer and pool their talents and resources together to improve the lives of people and make countries and their economies stronger and healthier. To focus the attention not just on the products of technologies, but also the materials, processes, knowledge, skills and organization.

The matters relating to airlines, shipping, satellite communications, banking and tourism, deep sea mining, wave tidal energy from the sea, or working out economics of electricity production or in searching out regional economic complementaries in the area of market for goods, cooperative industrial and resource development and regionally generated investment funds are equally strong arguments for regional cooperation.

Give Freedom a Chance:
The Arabian Peninsula Seas contain two of the most important strategic waterways in the world: Bab alMandab and Strait of Hormuz. Without them much of the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa and South West Asia would make little sense. Approx. 10 percent of Europe's oil supplies passes through Bab AlMandab which is in the territorial waters of Yemen, Djibuti, and Eritrea. Of these, Yemen is well placed to exercise direct control of the shipping lanes.

The Sea will further gain in its importance. After completing the enlargement of the European Union, the natural space for "growth" will be the Mediterranean region, its southern and eastern parts, Northern Africa and the Middle East. European Union continually step by step develops its framework of cooperation with these territories, bilateral, multilateral relations, associations and cooperation, agreements, dialogues, partnerships, cooperation programs, networks, regional policies, strategies. The Red Sea region can, perhaps, in one generation become the interface, a crossing between "Greater" Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, Indian sub-continent and other Indian Ocean countries.

Promising future or uncertainty from future?
What lies between the hope and fear?
I think it is life: freedom, ambitions, dignity, anger, beauty, temptation, unity, misgivings, silence, envy, generosity, indifferences, capability, power, poverty, praise, critics, science, belief, civilization, sun, stars….

Thus the Sea which is a potential sources of disunity is also a powerful argument for cooperation. The Red Sea states may yet to recognize the value of united political front on matters associated with the sea while gaining space for formulation ideas for their own development and future. It is the geo-strategic significance of the Red Sea as resource which the Red Sea countries themselves have yet to explore in full.