Island chain strategy in the context of "Maritime security"

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⭐ Core Definition: Island chain strategy

The island chain strategy is a strategic maritime containment plan first conceived by American foreign policy statesman John Foster Dulles in 1951, during the Korean War. It proposed surrounding the Soviet Union and China with naval bases in the West Pacific to project power and restrict sea access.

The "island chain" concept did not become a major theme in American foreign policy during the Cold War, but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union has remained a major focus of both American and Chinese geopolitical and military analysts to this day. For the United States, the island chain strategy is a significant part of the force projection of the U.S. military in the Far East. For the People's Republic of China (PRC), the concept is integral to its maritime security and fears of strategic encirclement by the U.S. and its allies. For both the U.S. and the PRC, the island chain strategy emphasizes the geographical and strategic importance of Taiwan.

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Island chain strategy in the context of First island chain

The first island chain is the first string of major Pacific archipelagos out from the East Asian continental mainland coast. It is principally composed of the Kuril Islands, the Japanese archipelago, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan (Formosa), the northern Philippines, and Borneo, hence extending all the way from the Kamchatka Peninsula in the northeast to the Malay Peninsula in the southwest. The first island chain forms one of three island chain doctrines within the island chain strategy in the U.S. foreign policy. It is considered a strategic military barrier to accessing the wider Pacific Ocean given the relative shallowness of waters to the west of the first island chain, which has important implications for submarine detection.

Much of the first island chain is roughly situated in waters claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC). These include the South China Sea, within the disputed nine-dash line, as well as the East China Sea west of the Okinawa Trough.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← First island chain
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Military strategy → Containment → Foreign policy → John Foster Dulles → Korean War → Soviet Union → China → Naval base → Power projection → Foreign policy of the United States → Cold War → Dissolution of the Soviet Union → Geopolitical → United States Armed Forces → People's Republic of China → Maritime security → Encirclement → Taiwan →