'A strategical study of Persia and the Persian Gulf' [‎103] (111/150)

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PART III. ^ )
General Conclusions^
1. An attempt will be now made to indicate the more import
ant conclusions which may be drawn from a study of the condi
tions outlined in the foregoing pages. j
2. The information contained in Part I shows -
(a) That, in the Northern Zone, Russian interests and trade
largely predominate, no other European Power except
Great Britain having, at present, any interests worth men
tioning in the zone. This part of Persia too is the richest
and most populous, so that its larger supplies both of food
and water, its better roads, and the greater facilities it
offers for railway construction, give Russia great military
advantages over any other Power for operations within this
zone.
(&) That, in the Southern Zone, Great Britain is practically the
only foreign Power that has any interests or trade at all.
But its sparse population, its smaller supplies of food
and water, its bad roads and the difficulties the
mountain ranges offer to all railway construction from
the sea, render military operations on any large scale
within the zone very difficult, if not impracticable,
(c) That, in lower Mesopotamia, Great Britain is at present the
only foreign Power that has any trade interests ; but that
with the advent of the Baghdad Railway, German
trade interests will rapidly increase and form a pretext
on which to advance political claims,
{d) That, on the Arabian littoral. Great Britain has predomi
nant interests, both political and commercial, with the
local tribes, though Turkey has rather nebulous political
claims to certain portions of the coast line,
(e) That the arms traffic across the Gulf is having a serious effect
in the regions bordering on the North-West Frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. of
India, and that Great Britain is interested in estab
lishing some form of effective government in Southern
Persia on this account alone; so that the movement of
arms across it to the North-West Frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. of India may be
more effectively checked. Moreover, the free importation
of arms is one of the principal contributory causes of the
present disturbed state of Southern Persia.