Global Waterways: Access and Control

Archive Report

Problems Arising from Suez Canal Closure

Blocking of the Suez Canal to navigation since last June 6, second day of the six-day Arab-Israeli war, has dramatically demonstrated the dangers and the consequences of tampering with freedom of passage through the world's strategic waterways. The United Arab Republic's decision to close the Strait of Tiran to Israeli shipping between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea set in motion forces that precipitated the war, which in turn led to closing of the Suez Canal. Reopening of the canal, moreover, hinges upon an Arab-Israeli settlement complicated in no small part by Cairo's reluctance to abandon its long-standing policy of excluding Israeli shipping from the canal itself.

For five months now, all ships that followed the short route ...

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