Cutting ties
On seafaring Greeks, extortion rackets, and why the world's shadowy submarines should have our attention
While the use of the seas for transporting goods, people, and news has a history tracing back thousands of years, the seas have been a venue for electronic communication since the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1858.
■ Today, the world depends on an undersea web of fuel pipelines, fiber-optic cables, and electric power lines to keep modernity afloat. This is why Russia’s sinister behavior on the seas has the United Kingdom’s defense leaders worried.
■ The rest of us need to be alert to the hazards, not because we can do anything about them from the comfort of home, but because we need to be prepared to believe the news when the worst actually happens. Shadowy Russian submarines might cut vital undersea Internet cables, for instance, as an act of sabotage that falls short of a declaration of war while still doing serious real-world damage and creating the effect of intimidation.
■ How readily do we think the world would push back if Russian assets were used to physically attack vital assets belonging to the UK? If we’re not confident that swift and decisive retaliation is waiting in the wings, then the threat alone is far too credible for comfort.