British journalists and statesmen, as well as the ordinary British patriot, have been accustomed to judge international questions from but one point of view—the promotion and protection of the interests of that great and benevolent institution, “the noblest fabric yet reared by the genius of a conquering nation,” the British Empire.[21] Imperial considerations have been the determining factors in the formulation of diplomatic policies and of naval and military strategy. The possession of a far-flung empire has required further imperial conquests to insure the defence of those already acquired. Strategic necessities have constituted a “reason for making an empire large, and a large empire larger.”[22] India, an empire in itself, is the keystone of the British imperial system. To defend India it has been considered necessary for Great Britain to possess herself of vital strategic points along the routes of communication from the Atlantic seaboard to the Indian Ocean. The acquisition of Cape Colony from the Dutch at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars enabled the British fleet to dominate the old route to India, around the Cape of Good Hope. Judiciously placed naval stations at Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus assured the safety of British trade with the East _via_ the Mediterranean. After a futile attempt to prevent the construction of the Suez Canal, which temporarily placed a new and shorter all-water route to India in the hands of the French, Great Britain proceeded to acquire the Canal for herself. To assure the protection of the Suez Canal, in turn, it was necessary to occupy Egypt and the Sudan. Control of Somaliland and Aden, together with friendly relations with Arabia, turned the Red Sea into a British lake. Menaced by the Russian advance toward India, Great Britain proceeded to dominate the entire Middle East: the foreign affairs of Afghanistan were placed under British tutelage and protection; Baluchistan was compelled to submit to the control of British agents; parts of Persia were brought within the sphere of British influence.[23] Great Britain, apparently, was determined to control every important route to India. What, then, would be her attitude toward a trans-Mesopotamian railway, terminating at the only satisfactory deep-water port on the Persian Gulf? Was the possession of such a short-cut to India consistent with the exigencies of imperial defence?