Naval Strategy East of Suez: The Role of Djibouti

(Hardback)

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This is the only current book on maritime Djibouti and describes the geography, naval history and present strategic role of this small country and indicates its possible future. naval Strategy East of Suez includes previously little-known facts of French covert action in Italian East Africa, 1938-1941; and of Operation Toreador (1956), which served to aid Operation Musketeer. It also turns a spotlight on the Allied blockade of Djibouti in 1940-1942. In a sense, this book is a more readable, and less technical, treatment of what sailors call "sailing directions". Djibouti's naval base, 600 miles closer to the Strait of Hormuz than Diego Garcia, is the nearest base to Middle East oil centers likely to be available to France and its allies in the future - facts often ignored or unknown to all but the most specialized of specialists. Koburger believes that the troubles in the Middle East are only beginning.

Author Bio

CHARLES W. KOBURGER, JR., was a Captain in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve when he retired in 1978 after twenty years of active duty. He is now an independent consultant in the operational aspects of maritime affairs, specializing in navigation systems. He has published numerous books on naval strategies and history, including: The Cyrano Fleet: France and Its Navy, 1940-42 (Praeger, 1989), Narrow Seas, Small Navies, and Fat Merchantmen: Naval Strategies for the 1990s (Praeger, 1990) and The French Navy in Indochina: Riverine and Coastal Forces, 1945-54 (Praeger, 1991).