What kind of traditions do Britain and the United States have?

These actions by Russia will affect the interests of other countries and arouse the latter's strong and reasonable hostility. They will use all powerful means to confront Russia. The basis of these means is sea power. However, sea power, unless seriously strengthened, could not compete with Russia's land supremacy due to geographical proximity and other circumstances. In addition, due to Russia's political unity and territorial expansion, the influence exerted on Russia may be scattered. However, the countries concerned have recognized that they share common interests in maintaining freedom of commerce and transportation in the disputed areas, and thus have identical requirements. The correctness of these countries' policies and the success of their coordination depend on their ability to recognize the above-mentioned interests and accurately assess their own strengths. The effectiveness of cooperation between countries depends on the necessity stemming from common interests. Therefore, the clearer and more comprehensive the understanding of interests and the conditions for their realization, the more stable and long-lasting the cooperation will be.

The policy targets of land and sea powers are those areas where the political and social future is uncertain. These prospects are determined by the influence of each power on the people in the region. These areas include the Chinese Empire in the east, especially the Han areas, and the Asian parts of Turkey and Persia in the west. The latter two are adjacent to each other, and their dividing line is a mountain chain that is tall but has little blocking effect. It extends from the Armenian mountains to the southeast almost to the Persian Gulf. Since there were no railways, the area was relatively commercially backward from a modern perspective. Its area - excluding the Arab region - is about one million square miles, bounded to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, to the north by the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and its width from north to south is about 500 miles, equivalent to half the distance from New York to Chicago. This area has huge development potential. A railway can be built to first connect the Mediterranean Sea to the top of the Persian Gulf, and then another railway can be built through Persia to the Indian border. If such a trunk line becomes operational, it will naturally be subsequently expanded.

In the above-mentioned regions as well as in China, governments and people are equally content with the status quo and do not know or expect development and progress. Therefore, dealing with the problems of these countries is very difficult. It is better to wait until the civilized and progressive countries outside really need to deal with them. However, now as for China, given that countries have a realistic understanding of the urgency of the problem and are working hard to obtain a piece of territory from China to exert control or influence, they have attached great importance to their own future needs. No matter what influence countries want to exert, one thing is always the same: they want to gain some kind of advantage and actually occupy some power and territory. This is the only reason some locals in Asia believe a powerful country would want some kind of concession. If this motivation from both directions is strong, it will obviously influence the behavior of countries. Of course, there is absolutely no need to deprive the local people of their rights. This is neither practical nor necessary. The reasonable plan should only be to induce them to accept a situation that will promote their progress and enhance their interests and the interests of the world. How this will be achieved, whether by gradually taking over local rule, as in India, or by prodding governments that maintain nominal rule, as in Egypt, is a matter of detail that cannot yet be predicted. The answer to it is not so much predetermined as it depends on actual evolution.

In the past history, the above-mentioned changes were generally spearheaded by private commercial enterprises; moreover, the incompetence of local governments led to a large number of illegal activities. The latter situation requires foreign governments to intervene to protect the rights of their citizens, which not only requires the local government to correct past mistakes and promise never to repeat them, but also requires some kind of guarantee for this, such as being given some kind of guarantee. A certain degree of local rule, and the vitality of the suzerain country will tend to strengthen this rule. This is like if a seed is sown, its germination and growth are determined more by its own conditions rather than the conditions of the soil, and once it takes root, it cannot be easily pulled out. What determines whether a country can dominate a land is not local resistance but the countervailing effect of its peers.

However, if the countries concerned can continue to strengthen and expand their political territory, especially along the current route, the threat to this route will be reduced to a point where it is beneficial to establish some kind of balance. At this time, compared to the safer but longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, the above route can at least be used as a temporary route for military purposes.