Maritime Strategy and Global Order

It's commonplace to reduce maritime strategy to navies pummeling one another for command of the sea. By contrast, the contributors to Maritime Strategy and Global Order rightly keep their gaze wide. It alights on such matters as seagoing commerce, international law, and even ship design as well as combat. A well-written tour d'horizon of a topic of mounting importance. -- James Holmes, Professor of Strategy, US Naval War College Far too little has been written on maritime strategy. This excellent volume fills an important gap by intelligently addressing the whole spectrum of issues from the legal normative framework to the varying concrete issues troubling the littoral states of the different seas. Drawing on the leading expertise of its contributors, it contextualizes the use of naval force within broader historical, political and economic contexts, in war and in the much more common periods of relative peace. -- Beatrice Heuser, Chair of International Relations, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Reading This wide-ranging volume provides a major reappraisal of maritime strategy, covering historical, regional, and contemporary dimensions. It offers an essential primer for defense policy makers, naval officers, and students of strategic affairs. -- Theo Farrell, Head of the Department of War Studies, King's College London This book is an eminently readable assessment of grand strategy, maritime power, and world order. Its treatment of historical, regional, and global trends is penetrating and essential for all those interested in the evolution of international order. -- Sten Rynning, Professor of Political Science, Head, Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark

An international roster of top scholars explores the role of naval power and maritime trade in creating the modern international system. This book is both a history of maritime strategy, sea power, and seaborne commerce from the nineteenth century to the present day and an examination of current strategic issues.Taken for granted as the natural order of things, peace at sea is in fact an immense and recent achievement -- but also an enormous strategic challenge if it is to be maintained in the future. In Maritime Strategy and Global Order, an international roster of top scholars offers historical perspectives and contemporary analysis to explore the role of naval power and maritime trade in creating the international system. The book begins in the early days of the industrial revolution with the foundational role of maritime strategy in building the British Empire. It continues into the era of naval disorder surrounding the two world wars, through the passing of the Pax Britannica and the rise of the Pax Americana, and then examines present-day regional security in hot spots like the South China Sea and Arctic Ocean. Additional chapters engage with important related topics such as maritime law, resource competition, warship evolution since the end of the Cold War, and naval intelligence. A first-of-its-kind collection, Maritime Strategy and Global Order offers scholars, practitioners, students, and others with an interest in maritime history and strategic issues an absorbing long view of the role of the sea in creating the world we know.