Lines Under the Sea: The Politics of the Middle East’s Data Corridors

The Cairo Review writes that a direct route through Jordan and Israel was central to the vision behind IMEC, with Haifa as a maritime gateway and telecommunications links alongside the transport corridor.[1] According to the analysis, "the obstacle is not simply the engineering of a cable"[1]; the question is whether the states along the route would work together for decades.The Cairo Review reports that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are backing longer and costlier routes through Syria and Iraq that can reduce dependence on Israel as well as Egypt.[1]The analysis says Türkiye was deliberately left out of IMEC over its Belt and Road leanings, its ties to Hamas, and its frictions within NATO[1], and that "the exclusion backfired."[1] According to the article, Istanbul's DE-CIX exchange grew 42 percent in a year.[1]The Cairo Review also writes that China's Digital Silk Road, with more than $17 billion deployed since 2013, proceeds through bilateral deals[1]. It adds that Chinese entities own, built, or upgraded thirteen cables in the Middle East and North Africa.[1]Rest of World reported in March that Saudi Arabia's STC Group signed an $800 million contract on February 7 to build 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) of fiber across Syria[2] as part of the SilkLink project. Doug Madory of Kentik told Rest of World: "I suspect not all of those cables will actually be constructed."[2]