Maritime Order and America’s Indo-Pacific Strategy
July 1, 2019
By Dr. Patrick M. Cronin
The United States is a “seapower†in all senses of the word. Its history, prosperity, and security are inseparable from the oceans. Even U.S. states without coastlines depend on global supply chains and markets that move primarily through the oceans.
The United States neglects its Navy at its peril. But military power must be accompanied by other types of power, both hard and soft. In his analysis of five maritime great powers, Professor Andrew Lambert explains how might and identity derive not exclusively from naval power, but also from the aptitude for using the seas cooperatively.1 The crucial distinction between seapowers and more insular continental powers is the art of perpetuating profitable economic and political ties with others. “A seapower, the ancient Greek thalassokratia,†writes Lambert, “was a state that consciously chose to create and sustain a fundamental engagement between nation and ocean, from political inclusion to the rule of law, across the entire spectrum of national life, in order to achieve great power status.â€2
http://cimsec.org/maritime-order-and-americas-indo-pacific-strategy/40678?utm_source=RC%20Defense%20Morning%20Recon&utm_campaign=0afd27e0cf-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_07_11_08_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_694f73a8dc-0afd27e0cf-81835773
