Excellent article Anna. However, political factors should be also cosidered in the analysis. In particular, regarding the lack of Spanish commitment to "Prosperity Guaurdian", or "Aspides", based on domestic political problems derived from different positon within the coalition Government. Because of that factor, Spain not only did not responded to the Red Sea crisis, but also lost a key opportunity to strenghten its position by offering Operation ATALANTA (under its Command) to cover the "new" threat...