1. Laura Kwan MonsoonThe Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

2. Muscat Muscat is the capital of Oman It has beautiful, fairy-tale bays with hypnotic silver-blue water. It’s harborscapes are composed of Mughal and Persian architecture, with green and gold domes. There are many Portuguese influences within Muscat as well. In the main bay out of which Muscat has grown, there are two Portuguese forts, Jalali and Mirani.

3. The Myth of Infante Henrique:Price Henry the Navigator Portugal’s Eighth Crusade led to the myth of Infante Henrique, or Prince Henry the Navigator. In 1415, Prince Henry organized a successful expedition against Ceuta in Morocco. This was the first ever Portuguese attack on Islam’s African base. According to the myth, after this attack, Henry lost interest in limited military actions and began to plan a grand strategy to outflank the Islamic world from bases in the Indian Ocean. There are conflicting stories about Price Henry, some say he was just a character in the story of the Crusades, while others say he was a benevolent figure in the age of discovery

4. Gwadar A port town in Pakistan with a population of close to 70,000. Kaplan believes Gwadar will be a great place-name of the future. Because of its ultra-strategic location, Gwadar was immediately looked at as an air and naval hub. In 2001, only a few weeks after 9/11, the Chinese spent $200 million on on the development of a deepwater port at Gwadar.

5. The Two Prominent Landmarks of Kolkata The Raj Bhavan, which is Hindi for Government House, was the home to Lord George Nathaniel Curzon more than a hundred years ago. The Tagore Mansion was home to the Bengali poet, short story writer, novelist, and artist Rabindranath Tagore.