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Article: Neglected no longer: strategic rivalry in the Indian Ocean. (Perspectives).
- Article from:
- Harvard International Review
- Article date:
- June 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Harvard International Relations Council, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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After roughly a decade in the strategic wilderness, the Indian Ocean region is again becoming an arena of geopolitical rivalry among world powers and local states. During the final decades of the Cold War, the region was a zone of fairly intense superpower competition. The United States and the Soviet Union vied for political advantage, while their navies competed for refueling facilities and bases in places such as Socotra Island in the former South Yemen, Gan in the Maldives, and Port Victoria in the Seychelles. The Indian Ocean was also significant in the nuclear arms race as both navies operated ballistic missile submarines in the region. Due to this clash of ...