5 Reasons Submarine Cables Are the New Geopolitical Battlefield

5 Reasons Submarine Cables Are the New Geopolitical Battlefield

Submarine cables (SC), lying silently on the seabed, carry more than 99% of the world’s digital data. Every video streamed, financial transaction executed, and business deal negotiated online relies not on satellites in the sky, but on these undersea cables stretching across the oceans. While most of us rarely think about them, submarine cables are the true backbone of the internet and a hidden pillar of the global economy. And yet, they have now become a critical arena in the struggle for power among nations.

This report explores five reasons why submarine cables have turned into the new geopolitical battlefield—and why businesses, governments, and citizens alike must pay close attention to this invisible infrastructure.

1. SC are the backbone of global data infrastructure

Submarine cables transmit over 99% of international communications and internet traffic. Without them, global connectivity would collapse within seconds. A single cable can transfer terabits of data per second, making it far faster and more efficient than satellites.

For example, the MAREA cable, built by Microsoft and Facebook, links the U.S. to Europe with record-breaking capacity. Similarly, Google has invested in multiple transoceanic cables such as Dunant and Equiano, demonstrating the tech giants’ recognition that controlling undersea cables means controlling global digital flows.

External reference: Submarine Cable Map by TeleGeography

Submarine cables are not just about speed. They are about resilience, redundancy, and economic power. Losing them, even temporarily, would disrupt global financial markets, international trade, and even national security operations.

2. SC are highly vulnerable to disruption

Despite their importance, submarine cables are fragile. Most are only a few centimeters thick, protected by layers of insulation but still vulnerable to damage. On average, 200 cable breaks occur each year, mostly caused by fishing activity, ship anchors, and natural disasters such as earthquakes.

Yet beyond accidental damage lies a darker risk: deliberate sabotage. Nations and non-state actors recognize that cutting or tapping into submarine cables could cause massive disruption. Military vessels have already been spotted operating near major cable routes, raising suspicions of surveillance or preparation for potential attacks.

External reference: International Cable Protection Committee

This vulnerability makes submarine cables both a target and a weapon in modern geopolitics.

3. SC are at the heart of digital sovereignty

Who owns and controls submarine cables is no longer just a business question; it is a geopolitical issue. Today, around 70% of new cable projects involve private companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, which have invested billions into building exclusive routes.

Meanwhile, states like China are aggressively expanding their influence through companies such as Huawei Marine, raising concerns in Washington, Brussels, and Tokyo. Controlling cables means controlling information flows—essential for surveillance, censorship, or even coercion in international relations.

For smaller nations, dependence on foreign-controlled cables poses risks to sovereignty. Countries are increasingly seeking redundancy by investing in multiple cable routes or forming alliances with like-minded partners.

4. SC are central to cyber security

Every submarine cable is a potential entry point for espionage. Fiber-optic cables can be tapped, allowing intelligence agencies to intercept massive volumes of data. The revelations by Edward Snowden showed that agencies like the NSA already monitor cable traffic at key chokepoints.

Sabotage is another risk. Cutting cables could isolate entire regions from the internet, disrupt banking systems, and paralyze communications during a conflict. Unlike satellites, which can be defended and monitored in orbit, submarine cables are spread across 1.4 million kilometers of ocean floor, making them difficult to protect.

Internal reference: See also our article on Cybersecurity Risks in Global Infrastructure

Ensuring the security of submarine cables requires unprecedented cooperation between governments, telecom operators, and private technology giants.

5. SC shape the future of global power competition

Submarine cables are no longer invisible—they are now a contested domain of international rivalry. The U.S. and its allies are concerned about Chinese cable projects expanding influence in Africa and the Indo-Pacific. Russia has been accused of deploying submarines near critical cables. Meanwhile, emerging economies are struggling to gain access to secure, affordable connections.

The stakes are enormous. Whoever dominates submarine cables will wield disproportionate influence over global communications, financial flows, and military coordination. In this sense, submarine cables are the new oil pipelines of the digital age.

Conclusion: An invisible war beneath the waves

Submarine cables may seem invisible to most people, but they are now at the center of geopolitics, economics, and security. They are fragile yet indispensable, commercial yet strategic, hidden yet contested.

The five reasons outlined—backbone of data infrastructure, vulnerability, sovereignty, security, and power competition—show why submarine cables are the new geopolitical battlefield. For policymakers, business leaders, and ordinary citizens, ignoring them is no longer an option.

Future conflicts may not be fought only with missiles or sanctions, but with silent cuts beneath the waves. The next frontier of power lies not in the skies, but on the ocean floor.