Geopolitical vulnerability

By virtue of proximity to heavily trafficked sea-lanes or great rivers, or by nearness to continental divides or mountain passes, entire regions, whatever their form, attain strategic geographical importance. They may be valleys, great alluvial plains, peninsulas, coasts, capes, or islands; despite their different natures, they figure in military history; the Khyber Pass, the Normandy beaches, Pearl Harbour and Waterloo are a few of their names. Some territories become politically strategic because they are potential gateways to a perceived enemy, hence the concern of nations for nearby islands not under their own flags. Contemporary news accounts nearly always include an insular political problem.