🇺🇸🇨🇳🌎 - The Monroe Line: A Case for a Sixth Island Chain

The proposed Monroe Line comes at a time when Washington is vying to reassert its influence and interests in the Western Hemisphere, especially to secure the hemisphere from Chinese influence and exploitation in the name of the Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Western Hemisphere as American turf.

The first node of the Monroe Line would lie in the Atlantic, on Equatorial Guinea’s Annobon Island. The United States and Equatorial Guinea share good relations, as we are their major investor.

The second node is the critical island of São Tomé and Príncipe, as China seeks to secure a deep-water port there. With an American base on São Tomé, Beijing will feel the leash tighten around its exports of Cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accounts for 75% of all known Cobalt in the world. Cobalt is used for the production of rechargeable batteries and superalloys. In a potential conflict, disrupting Chinese exports of Cobalt would cripple their civilian productive sector.

The next link in the chain would be Ascension Island and St. Helena, both of which are British territories with existing strategic infrastructure such as ports and large airfields. Ascension Island already hosts a large Royal Air Force Base, which is operated by both the RAF and the U.S. Space Force.

The next island may be Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian island. Notably, the U.S. had a presence on the island during World War II, when American personnel built an airfield. The base would serve as a forward hub for monitoring or intercepting maritime traffic and for rapid response across the mid-Atlantic. It would effectively allow the U.S. to block all access to South America from the Atlantic.

Next, the Monroe Line would connect with the Falkland Islands. Here, the U.S. may secure chokepoints in the Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan if the Chinese seek to circumnavigate the continent, bypassing the Panama Canal. Additionally, it would allow the U.S. to monitor the increasing Chinese activity in Antarctica.

Towards the South Pacific, the Chilean island of San Félix. San Félix serves as the Malta of South America, able to project power northward towards the Panama Canal or southward towards the tip of South America, just as the British could deploy to Gibraltar or the Suez Canal. The island's topography is also well-suited for radar or communication installations.

Finally, the Monroe Line would close at the Galapagos, particularly, Baltra Island. The island would serve to protect the Panama Canal and close off Central and South America. Furthermore, the end node at Baltra would prevent Beijing from attempting to construct a Nicaraguan Canal to rival the Panama Canal. As of March 2026, U.S. and Ecuadorian forces have been working in joint operations under SouthCom’s anti-drug trafficking effort, signalling good relations between the nations militarily.

Not only would the Monroe Line serve as a fortification of the Western Hemisphere, protecting our regional strategic interests, but it would also strengthen American strategic readiness for a conflict, putting America in the best possible position. As we've seen in the Indo-Pacific, the island chains work; it is about time we establish one in our backyard.

Link to the article: https://defenseanalyses.org/work/the-monroe-line/