Small Powers at Sea

Small Powers at Sea
Author: Finn Laursen
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2021-09-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004481885

Small Powers at Sea presents an analysis of the marine policies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from the First UN Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958 until the conclusion of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1982. The main substantive chapters cover security aspects, continental shelf policies, fisheries, shipping and marine environment as well as deep seabed mining. The study is comparative and conducted from a political science perspective, discussing how to explain the rather divergent Scandinavian marine policies. A state-centric rational actor model can explain much of the variance, but other factors, including cognitive ones and the role of domestic politics, must be included to obtain a fuller understanding of Scandinavian policies over time and across issue areas.

Sea Power

Sea Power
Author: Admiral James Stavridis, USN
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2018-06-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0735220611

From one of the most admired admirals of his generation—and the only admiral to serve as Supreme Allied Commander at NATO—comes a remarkable voyage through all of the world’s most important bodies of water, providing the story of naval power as a driver of human history and a crucial element in our current geopolitical path. From the time of the Greeks and the Persians clashing in the Mediterranean, sea power has determined world power. To an extent that is often underappreciated, it still does. No one understands this better than Admiral Jim Stavridis. In Sea Power, Admiral Stavridis takes us with him on a tour of the world’s oceans from the admiral’s chair, showing us how the geography of the oceans has shaped the destiny of nations, and how naval power has in a real sense made the world we live in today, and will shape the world we live in tomorrow. Not least, Sea Power is marvelous naval history, giving us fresh insight into great naval engagements from the battles of Salamis and Lepanto through to Trafalgar, the Battle of the Atlantic, and submarine conflicts of the Cold War. It is also a keen-eyed reckoning with the likely sites of our next major naval conflicts, particularly the Arctic Ocean, Eastern Mediterranean, and the South China Sea. Finally, Sea Power steps back to take a holistic view of the plagues to our oceans that are best seen that way, from piracy to pollution. When most of us look at a globe, we focus on the shape of the of the seven continents. Admiral Stavridis sees the shapes of the seven seas. After reading Sea Power, you will too. Not since Alfred Thayer Mahan’s legendary The Influence of Sea Power upon History have we had such a powerful reckoning with this vital subject.

The Evolving Maritime Balance of Power in the Asia-Pacific

The Evolving Maritime Balance of Power in the Asia-Pacific
Author: Lawrence W. Prabhakar
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2006
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 981256828X

The Asia-Pacific region has emerged as the hub of global geo-political, geo-economic and geo-strategic significance in the post-Cold War period. The rise of China and the resurgence of India will be the hallmark for the next 50 years. How this surge in power is accommodated by the incumbent powers like the United States and Japan, and how the new regional powers like China and India manage the power politics that emerge will be the key determinants of regional stability.This volume examines the national maritime doctrines as well as the nuclear weapons developments at sea of the four major powers in the Asia-Pacific, namely, China, India, Japan and the United States, to see if the evolving dynamic is a cooperative or a competitive one. In particular, the volume looks at the evolving paradigms of maritime transformation in strategy and technology; the emergent new maritime doctrines and evolving force postures in the naval orders of battle; the role and operations of nuclear navies in the Asia-Pacific; and the implications and impact of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and sea-based missile defence responses in the region.

The Sea Power of the State

The Sea Power of the State
Author: S.G. Gorshkov
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1483285464

Admiral Gorshkov has transformed the Soviet fleet into a world sea power for the first time in Russian history. He is Russia's most brilliant naval strategist of all time. He has created the modern Soviet navy. His book examines the main components of sea power among which attention is focused on the naval fleet of the present day, capable of conducting operations and solving strategic tasks in different regions of the world's oceans, together with other branches of the armed forces and independently

A Small Boat at the Bottom of the Sea

A Small Boat at the Bottom of the Sea
Author: John Thomson
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2005
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781571316578

Twelve-year-old Donovan's summer with his aunt and uncle on Puget Sound becomes a test of his own convictions when he suspects his uncle's involvement in a local racist group.

Small Powers in the Age of Total War, 1900-1940

Small Powers in the Age of Total War, 1900-1940
Author: Herman Amersfoort
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2011-04-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004204334

Usually it is a foreign military threat or the geopolitical position of a country that attracts the most attention as a factor to explain the emergence of the national security policies of small, neutral powers like the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland in the period 1900-1940. While these factors may explain the similarities between these small states, they fail to make clear why there were such great differences between them. The authors of this volume argue that the internal politics and the politico-military strategic cultures of the countries are vital keys to understanding their divergent reactions to similar, or at least comparable, foreign military threats: World War I and German expansionism in the second half of the 1930s. The contributors are Maartje Abbenhuis, Michael Clemmesen, Kjeld Galster, Tom Kristiansen, Paul Moeyes, Williamson Murray, Michael Olsansky, Christian Paulin, Matthias Strohn, Anne Tjepkema, and Joost Vaessen.

China Goes to Sea

China Goes to Sea
Author: Andrew S. Erickson
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 530
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 161251152X

In modern history, China has been primarily a land power, dominating smaller states along its massive continental flanks. But China’s turn toward the sea is now very much a reality, as evident in its stunning rise in global shipbuilding markets, its vast and expanding merchant marine, the wide offshore reach of its energy and minerals exploration companies, its growing fishing fleet, and indeed its increasingly modern navy. Yet, for all these achievements, there is still profound skepticism regarding China’s potential as a genuine maritime power. Beijing must still import the most vital subcomponents for its shipyards, maritime governance remains severely bureaucratically challenged, and the navy evinces, at least as of yet, little enthusiasm for significant blue water power projection capabilities. This volume provides a truly comprehensive assessment of prospects for China’s maritime development by situating these important geostrategic phenomena within a larger world historical context. China is hardly the only land power in history to attempt transformation by fostering sea power. Many continental powers have elected or been impelled to transform themselves into significant maritime powers in order to safeguard their strategic position or advance their interests. We examine cases of attempted transformation from the Persian Empire to the Soviet Union, and determine the reasons for their success or failure. Too many works on China view the nation in isolation. Of course, China’s history and culture are to some extent exceptional, but building intellectual fences actually hinders the effort to understand China’s current development trajectory. Without underestimating the enduring pull of China’s past as it relates to threats to the country’s internal stability and its landward borders, this comparative study provides reason to believe that China has turned the corner on a genuine maritime transformation. If that proves indeed to be the case, it would be a remarkable if not singular event in the history of the last two millennia.

The Chinese Navy

The Chinese Navy
Author: Institute for National Strategic Studies
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2011-12-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780160897634

Tells the story of the growing Chinese Navy - The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) - and its expanding capabilities, evolving roles and military implications for the USA. Divided into four thematic sections, this special collection of essays surveys and analyzes the most important aspects of China's navel modernization.

The South China Sea

The South China Sea
Author: Bill Hayton
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2014-10-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300189540

China’s rise has upset the global balance of power, and the first place to feel the strain is Beijing’s back yard: the South China Sea. For decades tensions have smoldered in the region, but today the threat of a direct confrontation among superpowers grows ever more likely. This important book is the first to make clear sense of the South Sea disputes. Bill Hayton, a journalist with extensive experience in the region, examines the high stakes involved for rival nations that include Vietnam, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and China, as well as the United States, Russia, and others. Hayton also lays out the daunting obstacles that stand in the way of peaceful resolution. Through lively stories of individuals who have shaped current conflicts—businessmen, scientists, shippers, archaeologists, soldiers, diplomats, and more—Hayton makes understandable the complex history and contemporary reality of the South China Sea. He underscores its crucial importance as the passageway for half the world’s merchant shipping and one-third of its oil and gas. Whoever controls these waters controls the access between Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Pacific. The author critiques various claims and positions (that China has historic claim to the Sea, for example), overturns conventional wisdoms (such as America’s overblown fears of China’s nationalism and military resurgence), and outlines what the future may hold for this clamorous region of international rivalry.

The Future of Sea Power

The Future of Sea Power
Author: Eric Grove
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2021-05-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000371131

This book, first published in 1990, presents a fundamental reassessment of maritime strategy. It analyses the lessons of twentieth-century naval warfare and examines in detail the changing face of naval warfare, both in terms of the weapons used and the platforms from which they are launched and controlled. It looks at the evolving uses of the seas, both economic and military, and sets sea power against the developing world environment, political, legal and economic, discussing those factors that stimulate nations to exert power at sea and those that limit their naval capabilities. It also develops a theoretical framework for future thinking about maritime strategy and forces, revises and updates Mahan’s classical analysis of the foundations of sea power, and discusses thinking about naval tasks.