The coherence of Eurasia..............

...............an interesting essay from Robert D. Kaplan about trade, the Silk Road, the Indian Ocean and the durability of imperialism.  His happy conclusion:

Moreover, Al-Duqm was built in the expectation that the U.S. 5th Fleet soon will want a more secure harbor than those available inside the Gulf. Al-Duqm, which shrinks the Eurasian trading system down to one port complex, is a monument to pessimism: It assumes future conflict and the instability that comes with connectivity.