Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-07-29

mist control of Nepal, for in
stance. would remove a major
obstacle on the ancient gateway
between Tibet and India.
Far to the west. on the north
west border, is the ancient in
vasion route through the Khyber
Pass. This has been a historic
target of Imperial Russia. Today,
it is a major target Of Commu-
mist expansion. The relentless po-
litical and economic pressure
which the Soviet Union is utiliz-
ing in its efforts to penetrate and
ultimately control the AfghaniStan
area is inextricably associated with
the Communist efforts to envelope
India via Southeast Asia.
The push against India is as
sisted by a fundamental strategic
situation: The power vacuum
existing throughout the Indian
Ocean area, which has resulted
from the virtual disappearance of
British sea power from those wa
tiers since the end Of World War II.
The full significance of the de-
cline of the Royal Navy and the
consequent absence of British
control Of the Indian Ocean has
been largely overlooked in West
ern strategic thinking.
1t should be remembered that
for about two centuries prior to
World War II it was the mobility
of British sea power which
thwarted the pressures of Czarist
Russia against the approaches to
India.
Need for Indion Oceon Fleet
Since the end of World War II
the world has repeatedly wit
messed how swift has been the
reflex action of communism in
filling power vacuums. If the
West-and this means in this in
stance the United States doesn't
fill this one by rapid creation of
an Indian Ocean Fleet, the Soviet
Union with her growing sea power
will do so.
This is a situation in which
the United States has adequate
warning and a clear opportunity
to loosen the moose now being
frightened around India and Pax
drawn around India and Pakistan.
The formation by the United
States of an Indian Ocean Fleet
would generally parallel the COM
position and purpose of the Sixth
Fleet, which has proved so vital
to Free World security in the
Mediterranean area. A versatile
and mobile fleet, positioned in
the Indian Ocean, could move
quickly to stamp out brush-fires
before they exploded into major
conflagrations. Such fleet could
range from Suez to Singapore,
quietly showing the flag. At the
same time it would be a discreet
reminder to the peoples of this
vast and strategic area that they
are not being left by default to
Communist aggression.
The conflict in Asia is not only
a struggle between ideologies; it
is also a clash of two well-defined
geopolitical concepts.
The first of .lese, and proba-
bly, the most widely known, is
that of the famous British geo.
politician, MacKinder. His dictum
held that who controls eastern
Europe controls the heartland;
who rules the heartland rules the
world island; who rules the world
island rules the world"
Spykmon and the Rim-lond
The opposing concept, which,
while not as widely known as
MacKinder's, nevertheless is be-
ing substantiated by events. The
late Professor Nicholas John
Spykman of Yale visualized the
Russian land power extending to
it's geographical limitations. This,
in the form of Sino-Soviet expan-
sion, is what has happened. Thus
two powerful forces of history are
in conflict-Eurasian land power
and Western sea power.
Professor Spykman believed
that if there had to be a geo.