The maritime domain remains a central pillar of contemporary military strategy.
As defence policy and warfighting ventures into new operational areas, such as space or cyberspace, warfare at sea continues to be a key area of 21 st century military strategic thought.
A new book, “From the North Atlantic to the South China Sea – Allied Maritime Strategy in the 21st Century”, (download link below) takes an in-depth look at key tenets of current allied maritime strategy, conducts a strategic and operational assessment of the current threat level and sketches the responses required to deal with these challenges effectively.
While the naval domain has been a concern for military strategists for centuries, one might contend that it has never been as important as in today’s hyper-connected, globalised world.
The world’s seas are essential to the freedom, safety and prosperity of our societies. The vast majority of global trade is conducted via international shipping lanes, many of them running through vulnerable choke points and bottlenecks. Marine resources such as fishing grounds or natural gas and oil deposits below the sea are still the bedrock of many economic sectors. Most of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometres of the coast. Societies and economies are also more interconnected than ever through trans-oceanic infrastructure, such as submarine communication cables or pipelines on the seabed. Even small disruptions to global shipping or the failure of a few elements of global maritime infrastructure can have serious ripple effects that are felt worldwide. Thus, allies in Europe and North America must have paramount interest in preserving the peace, stability and freedom of global waters.
At the same time, the maritime security environment has become more complex and faces major challenges. Geopolitical competition—even rivalry—in the maritime domain has become a major threat to peace, stability and freedom. Heightened tensions with Russia after 2014 and increasing friction between the United States and China are being played out in the maritime field. An illustrative example, of course, is the South China Sea, where Beijing’s territorial claims clash with Washington’s intention to defend the current rules-based order and assert freedom of navigation. But there are also more indirect threats to the security of international waterways. State fragility and sub-state conflicts in coastal states or in the vicinity of important straits have externalities, such as attacks on international shipping by pirates, criminal groups or terrorists.
In addition, climate change is increasingly intensifying the threat of all the aforementioned challenges.
The book, published under Creative Commons by The Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University can be downloaded here.
A review will be published on the ANI site in due course.
The collection by more than a score of international authors includes a chapter by Australia’s James Goldrick on Allied maritime strategy from a Australian perspective.
James Goldrick had service around the world in the Royal Australian Navy and on exchange with the British Royal Navy. An anti-submarine specialist, he commanded HMA Ships Cessnock and Sydney (twice), the Australian Surface Task Group and the multinational maritime interception force in the Persian Gulf in 2002 and Australia’s inter-agency Border Protection Command in 2006-2008. Other commands included the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) (twice – 2003-2006 and 2011-2012), and the Australian Defence College (2008-2011). He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of NSW Canberra (ADFA), Adjunct in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University, and a Professorial Fellow of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong. He has published in many academic and professional journals and contributed chapters to more than 40 books. His books include: The King’s Ships Were at Sea: The War in the North Sea, August 1914 – February 1915. A much revised and extended edition Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, August 1914-February 1915 won the Anderson Medal of the Navy Records Society for 2015. It was followed by After Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters: June 1916-November 1918. Other books include No Easy Answers: The Development of the Navies of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and, with Jack McCaffrie, Navies of South-East Asia: A Comparative Study.
