RECONSIDERING THE CONCEPT OF CHOKEPOINTS FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

Chokepoints can be best described as areas where the ability to transport or deploy assets or goods can be severely denied or restricted, due to their limited spatial characteristics. As such, a potential party to an armed conflict can deploy a relatively small detachment of assets in order to interdict the aforementioned actions, with considerable results, especially during a conventional, large scale war, representing, from a certain perspective, a method of conventional asymmetric warfare against a numerically superior force. During history, chokepoints have been mainly considered to be areas of water or land, where the ability to maneuver of the deployed forces have been severely hindered, although, with the emergence of new warfighting domains, such as cyber and space, the definition of the chokepoint, as well as the perception of using them during warfare, can be expanded. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the different types of non-traditional chokepoints (space and information centered), their origins and vulnerabilities, as well as presenting a series of recommendations with the purpose of increasing their level of security. The methodology of research used in this paper is the historical analysis of the concept of chokepoint, the observation of technical measures that could create to the establishment of new types of chokepoints, as well as that of possible ways of mitigating these security threats