Chapter 05 of 5
The Global Choke Points
Critical vulnerabilities and the islands that hold the world's data.
- The Vulnerability
Myth of the Cloud
The internet isn't a nebulous cloud; it is a physical series of bottlenecks. Thousands of miles of fiber converge into a handful of narrow, shallow paths.
- The Red Sea
A Digital Artery
Roughly 17% of total global internet traffic flows through the Red Sea. It is one of the world's most concentrated—and vulnerable—undersea corridors.
- Geography
Egypt's Monopoly
Nearly all cables connecting Europe to Asia must cross a narrow strip of Egyptian land. This makes Egypt a vital gatekeeper for global connectivity.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
Which geographic location is a massive bottleneck, carrying roughly 17% of all global internet traffic?
⚓ The Undersea Backbone
- 01The 1858 Leap of FaithThe Victorian era's desperate attempt to bridge the Atlantic via telegraph.
- 02The Armor & The AbyssSurviving the deep: How we build glass strands to withstand the ocean floor.
- 03Sabotage in the DarkSubmarine warfare and the terrifying fragility of international data.
- 04The Tech Giant TakeoverHow Big Tech bought the ocean to build private global highways.
- 05The Global Choke PointsCritical vulnerabilities and the islands that hold the world's data.