by – Glen Palaca Hubahib, Esq.

Pivot Area:

China has grown into an industrial power. Meaning it manufactures all consumer items that the world needs. It slowly promoted the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an infrastructure and development initiative that connects Asia, Europe and Africa by railways, seaports, pipelines, and digital infrastructure. It revives the old silk caravan road where ancient merchants traverse by camels from China through Central Asia and Europe and vice-versa. Along this route they will build railways for freight and high-speed passenger trains.

Then they have the Maritime Silk Routes that link Southeast Asia to the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Around this time, China has become the largest commercial sea freight operator. Hence, they quickly built a blue water navy to protect their vessels.

Beyond the Strait of Hormuz, the China Iran Corridor. seetaoe.com

And more importantly the Digital Silk Road promoted their 5G and Satellite technology. Remember the broadband brouhaha during the Macapagal presidency. Furthermore, the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei CFO, and daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, in Canada is a demonstration of the geopolitical power competition in this area.

Long before the Middle East wars in the 20th Century and the current Iran War, there is a long forgotten and intriguing idea that most likely explained why we have the forever conflict in the Middle East, Ukraine, Georgia, the Karabakh Region of Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

Halford Mackinder’s Heartland Theory (1904) posits that “Eurasia is the geographical pivot of global power. That a land-based power controlling the inaccessible central region of Eurasia (the Heartland) could dominate the World-Island (Eurasia/Africa) and, ultimately, the world, emphasizing land power over sea power. 

Later in 1919, he defined it as: “Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island commands the world”.

Eurasia – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan etc.- are rich with natural resources from natural gas, oil, and metals. The population is young and educated. It is ripe for tourism because it is rich in culture and ancient sites. If we recall, the place was once ruled by Mongols and Turkic people.

Fast forward in the present time, we are back to the great power politics of the containment of Russia and China’s expansion to the doorstep of Europe. Hence, the never-ending wars like Alexander the Great march to Asia, the Mongols invasion of Rome, the partition of the Middle East after World War I, and so on.

Source – avim.org.tr

Meanwhile, in the Philippines our leaders lack diplomatic thought, majority do not understand the dynamics of geopolitics, and the interplay of great power. As a result, we don’t hedge and our leadership does not really put premium on geopolitics as part of our national security strategy. For the longest time, the Filipinos has been a hostage of the energy shock and gyration of the markets.

The dollar to peso exchange is now sixty-one. The prices of gasoline doubled, the LPG tripled and Congress is busy with impeachment to destroy a leading candidate in the 2028 presidential election. The Filipinos needs an adult in the room to lead.

[Note: Glen Palaca Hubahib is admitted to practice law in California and the Philippines. He also holds an Electrical Engineering and MBA degrees. He is a regular resource person of the top rated “Open Forum” program of Ardy Araneta-Batoy & Gloria Leodivica Araneta at station DYTR. The article is for information only and is not legal advice. Send your comments to the author at hubahibg@gmail.com.]