How a Bad Deal in the Indian Ocean Undermines the West

Protest against the UK handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, June 2025. Photo credit: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.

On May 22, the UK government of Labour’s Keir Starmer signed a treaty with the island nation of Mauritius, a former British colony in the Indian Ocean, to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, a seven-atoll archipelago that includes the Diego Garcia military base. Though the deal contains protections for this base, it also raises […]