Mike Watson
The winter is lovely in Oman. For centuries, this sultanate at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula has been a meeting point for the Middle East and the rest of Asia (its cuisine reflects this rich history). It signed its first treaty with the United States early in Andrew Jackson’s second term.
Jackson is back in the Oval Office—at least, his portrait is—and at the Indian Ocean Conference, I learned about the geopolitical stakes of the jockeying in this region, and what Donald Trump can do about it.
Dozens of ministers emphasized in their speeches how vital freedom of the seas is for their countries. Houthi attacks on ships traveling through the Red Sea deeply disturbed a region that depends on maritime trade. India usually tries to avoid Middle Eastern conflicts, but its military escorted merchant ships and rescued crews from vessels the Houthis struck.
The Biden administration’s stunning failure to protect these waters was mostly left unsaid at the conference. Freedom of the seas has been a core national interest since the Founding: Congress created the U.S. Navy to protect Americans sailing in the Middle East, and the U.S. Marine Corps anthem celebrates the Corps’ first overseas combat deployment, "to the shores of Tripoli."
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