The Internet’s Choke Points
The internet isn't an ethereal cloud; it's a physical network anchored to Earth by cables. This network's greatest vulnerabilities lie in geographic choke points—key coastal cities and narrow straits where…
Tag: undersea cables
The Svalbard Undersea Cable
Buried beneath the icy Barents Sea lies a lifeline of data connecting the remote Svalbard archipelago to the world. This undersea fiber optic cable is more than just a wire;…
The Global Supergrid: A Wire Over The World
Imagine a single electrical grid wrapping the planet, where sunlight harvested in the Gobi Desert powers homes in Germany through the night. This vision of a global supergrid promises a…
Energy Islands: The Grid’s Weak Links
Energy islands are power grids, like those in Hawaii or Texas, that operate in complete electrical isolation from their neighbors. Their geography—whether defined by an ocean or a political border—makes…
The Physical Internet: Data Center Geography
We think of the internet as the "cloud", a weightless, borderless entity. But in reality, it's a sprawling physical network of massive buildings and fiber-optic arteries with a very real…
Geopolitics of Undersea Cables
The internet is not a "cloud"; it's a physical network of over a million kilometers of fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor. This hidden geography of undersea cables…