The Red Sea, an important waterway connecting Europe, Africa and Asia, has recently become a global hotspot.
The reason is that the repercussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have already spread here, with Yemen's Houthi rebels launching multiple missile and drone attacks on Israel in the name of supporting the Palestinians, as well as attacking a number of "Israeli-related" merchant ships in the Red Sea, triggering a crisis.
The situation in the Red Sea has a major impact on the world and energy.
The Suez Canal at the northern end of the Red Sea is an important passage connecting the Mediterranean Sea with Europe, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea is the only route to the Gulf of Aden and the Middle East, making it one of the busiest routes in the world and one of the most important oil and LNG transportation routes in the world.
For Israel, the Red Sea is its lifeline, and it depends on this passage for grain imports, etc.
However, the situation in the Red Sea is deteriorating, and many international shipping companies have announced that they are suspending navigation in the Red Sea and detouring to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
The cost of doing so is huge, not only to spend 7-10 days more, but also to spend more than a dozen to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel costs, and the international ** chain will also be impacted.
In addition, the situation in the Red Sea has also had an impact on global energy markets, especially in Europe, which has stepped up energy imports from the Middle East in order to reduce their energy dependence on Russia due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The crisis in the Red Sea has put pressure on the United States and Israel.
In order to show its support for Israel and protect the merchant ships of the United States and its allies, the United States transferred the aircraft carrier "Eisenhower" from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, and the aircraft carrier "Ford" also extended its deployment in the Mediterranean.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also announced on the 19th that he would form a coalition with the participation of more than 20 countries to carry out an escort operation called "Prosperity Guardian."
However, this action of the United States has not received a positive response from its allies, at least eight countries have asked for anonymous participation, and even several European countries, which are on the US list, have openly rejected the "invitation" of the United States.
The Spanish Ministry of Defense said that it would not participate in the US escort operations and would only participate in NATO or EU missions, and the Italian Ministry of Defense said that the naval frigates sent were at the request of the shipowners and did not belong to the US escort operations, and the French Ministry of Defense said that the ** sent would only act alone on French orders.
The attitude of these countries is very clear, that is, they do not want to have anything to do with the US escort operation.
And those countries that have openly expressed their participation have also provided limited support, such as the Netherlands only sent 2 officers, Norway only sent 10 navy, Australia only sent 16, and the only countries that clearly want to send ** are Britain and Greece.
The U.S. escort operation looks like a huge momentum, but in fact it is a false appearance, and the United States is in an awkward position, giving an order, but its allies are unwilling to follow up.
This also reflects the "sensitive" nature of this action of the United States, and many countries are unwilling to stand with the United States and are unwilling to set themselves on fire and endanger their own interests.
The fundamental reason why the United States has received such a cold reception is that the United States unconditionally supports Israel, which has caused it to "lose the hearts and minds of the people."
Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip has caused a huge humanitarian catastrophe that has been condemned by the whole world and has given the Houthis an excuse to intervene.
The Houthis are clearly targeting Israeli-linked vessels, and they have warned that any attacks against the Houthis will be subject to reprisals.
The escort operation launched by the United States is ostensibly to stabilize the situation in the Red Sea, but in fact it is to take the opportunity to fight the Houthis and safeguard Israel's interests.
The countries of the Middle East, of course, will not support this action of the United States, so not a single Middle Eastern power is not included in the list.
The attitudes of European countries toward the Palestinian-Israeli issue are also changing, and even countries such as Germany, which has deep historical complexes, have begun to demand that Israel adjust its military strategy and reduce the harm it inflicts on Palestinian civilians.
Therefore, the European countries in the list have also "drawn a line" with the United States.
On December 24, Yemen's Houthi rebels warned the United States that the waters of the Red Sea would become a "burning arena" if the United States and its allies continued their operations.
Yemen's Houthis are so aggressive, and the United States has deployed aircraft carrier battle groups in the Middle East, but why does it still dare not take action against the Houthis in person?
First of all, the Houthis are "barefoot", and the missiles and drones they use are very low-cost, only a few thousand dollars, while the United States will cost at least $2 million to intercept a drone.
In such a confrontation, the United States has no cost advantage, but will allow the Houthis to gain more benefits.
Second, the U.S. global strategy does not allow it to take matters into its own hands against the Houthis.
The Houthis are allies of Iran, and if the United States retaliates directly, it could trigger an escalation of the situation, and the United States is already mired in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and then involved in a new conflict, with unimaginable consequences.
The United States now wants to get out of these conflicts and focus more on Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China's rise.
At the critical moment of the election of the leader of the Taiwan region, the United States has accelerated the process of "arming Taiwan" and made a major contribution to China's Taiwan region
The United States also instigated a conflict between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, but due to the crisis in the Red Sea, the aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson," which was originally in the South China Sea, also had to go to the Middle East.
The United States is now in a state of "pressing the gourd to float the scoop", and it is not known that the next scoop will appear in **.
The crisis in the Red Sea is the spillover of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the turmoil in the Middle East, the dilemma of US strategy, the challenge of global and energy, and the threat of world peace.
How long will this crisis last, what kind of consequences will it have, who else will be able to defuse it, who will benefit from it, and who will be responsible for it, these are all questions worth pondering.