Will Losing the Internet Trigger a Global Crisis?
The U.S. is accusing Russia of preparing to cut undersea cables which carry Internet traffic all over the world. Russia is accusing Western powers of the exact same thing.
In some cases, these undersea cables literally stretch from one continent to another, and so it is impossible to guard them. That means that they are an exceedingly vulnerable target, and it is probably just a matter of time before someone decides to attack them. Of course, if the undersea cables that connect one global superpower to the Internet get hit, they will probably start cutting key undersea cables that connect their enemies to the Internet. Needless to say, such a scenario would have the potential to turn apocalyptic very rapidly.
According to CNN, U.S. officials are warning that there has been “increased Russian military activity around key undersea cables.”
The U.S. has detected increased Russian military activity around key undersea cables, and believes Russia may now be more likely to carry out potential sabotage operations aimed at disabling a critical piece of the world’s communications infrastructure, two U.S. officials told CNN.
Russia has put increasing emphasis on building up a dedicated military unit, which deploys a formidable fleet of surface ships, submarines and naval drones, according to one of the officials. The unit, the “General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research,” is known by its Russian acronym GUGI.
“We are concerned about heightened Russian naval activity worldwide and that Russia’s decision calculus for damaging U.S. and allied undersea critical infrastructure may be changing,” a U.S. official told CNN. “Russia is continuing to develop naval capabilities for undersea sabotage mainly thru GUGI, a closely guarded unit that operates surface vessels, submarines and naval drones.”
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On the other side, the Russians are suggesting that it is actually the U.S. and the U.K. that are preparing to start attacking undersea Internet cables.
An ally of Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S. and the U.K. of intending to sabotage underwater internet cables and planning to destabilize the maritime energy trade.
In reporting the comments by Nikolai Patrushev, the Telegram channel Crimean Wind posted, “It would be funny, but such statements often sound like a cover for their own intentions.”
When contacted for comment, a British Foreign Office spokesperson told Newsweek on Tuesday: “We are not going to provide a running commentary on Russia’s conspiracy theories.”
So who is telling the truth?
I don’t know.
But what I do know is that these undersea Internet cables are incredibly important.
Undersea cables are the physical infrastructure that connects the digital world. Hundreds of fiber-optic cables, some no thicker than garden hoses, are laid out across the ocean floor, enabling the real-time global transmission of data and communications signals. These cables facilitate around 99% of internet traffic as well as the telephone calls, data transfers and other telecommunications that enable modern life to function. The first undersea telegraph cable was laid in 1858; today, there are almost 400, most of which are commercially owned and operated.
What would happen if all of the undersea cables connecting a particular country to the internet suddenly got cut?
I did not have an answer to that question, and so I asked Google, and this is what Google told me.
Communication disruption
People would lose access to phone calls, video, messages and streaming services.
Financial impact
E-commerce would be affected, and the stability of financial networks would be at risk.
Critical infrastructure impact
Power grids, transportation networks and water networks could be affected.
Country-wide impact
A country could be severed from the internet, which would impact banking, business and health networks.
Repair delays
It could take months to repair the cables.
That sounds really bad.
Over the past two decades, our entire economy has become exceedingly dependent on the internet.
If we were suddenly cut off from the rest of the globe, there would be widespread economic chaos.
Payment systems and ATMs would be down. Trillions of dollars would be wiped off the European and U.S. economies as banks were unplugged from the global financial system, with economic effects felt across the world. Workplaces and businesses that rely on the internet would also go down. Educational institutions would struggle to conduct online learning, impeding students’ education and limiting access to knowledge and resources.
E-commerce would take a hit too, exacerbating disruptions to supply chains and shortages of essential goods. Brick-and-mortar stores would be cut off from communication with suppliers, limiting access to food and other essential supplies.
If someone cut just a few dozen cables, we would suddenly be facing the biggest disaster for the U.S. economy since World War II.
That is how vulnerable we are.
And a precedent has already been set. Just two years ago, “someone” sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines that delivered Russian gas to Europe.
On 26 September 2022, a series of underwater explosions and consequent gas leaks occurred on three of four pipes, that were rendered inoperable, of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines, two of 23 gas pipelines between Europe and Russia. The leaks were located in international waters, but within the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden. Both pipelines were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, and are majority owned by the Russian majority state-owned gas company, Gazprom.
If push comes to shove, I think that both sides would not hesitate to cut undersea Internet cables.
Using nuclear weapons is a far more dramatic move, and it is being reported that the Russians were very close to doing that in 2022.
Vladimir Putin was apparently so close to launching a nuke in 2022 that Liz Truss spent her brief time in office preparing for the fallout.
A new biography of Ms. Truss claims the former prime minister spent her final days in No. 10 examining weather maps and preparing for U.K. radiation cases after American spies warned her that Putin was dangerously close to pressing the button.
The ‘exquisite’ intelligence provided by the U.S. concluded there was a 50% chance Russia could deploy a tactical nuclear weapon on the Ukrainian battlefields or test an even larger bomb in the Black Sea.
On the other side, I think that we have entered a time when globalists in the Western world have become so desperate that literally nothing is off the table.
Right now our world is more interconnected than ever, but that could change at any moment.
Once someone decides to start cutting cables, things will get really crazy.
So, enjoy the internet while you still can, but also prepare for the day when you will no longer be able to depend upon it.
Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
