News, Articles and Comment

Ed. In the Sixteenth century, Portgual was a thalassocracy actively pursuing a strategy of maritime influence and control through the acquisition of strategic oceanic chokepoints – the kind Admiral Sir John Fisher would later describe as “the keys that lock up the world.” A 10 minute read.

Ed. With his trademark dissident perspective, the author tackles what he describes as the long-term decline of European and British maritime power, and compares the present situation in the Middle East with the financial consequences of the outbreak of war in 1914. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The author provides an update on the geostrategic energy aspect of the Ukraine War, with the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East in mind. A 5 minute read.

Ed. When the 1980s Iran-Iraq War bled into the maritime sphere, the US Navy raced to halt depredations to oil shipments; the mine-warfare factor weighed heavily in the operation and offers lessons for today. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, June 2025. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The author reinforces the case for common sense port infrastructure national security priorities in terms of what he describes as “seamanship applied to national logistics.” A 15 minute read.

Ed. Written in 1991, the author explored the stark implications of peak oil in the aftermath of the First Gulf War. A 30 minute read.

Ed. The author examines how the Royal Navy contributes to Britain’s national security by balancing deterrence, economic protection, global influence, and homeland defence against the challenges of limited resources, technological change, and evolving threats. A 10 minute read.

Ed. The author, former Conservative MP and Shadow Defence Minister, outlines Russian and Chinese activities in the Arctic as part of his forthcoming book on the subject, The Arctic: Land of the Great Bear. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The RNSSC author provides an appreciation of the strategic situation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), and endorses an organic ‘multiplex’ as against a hegemonic ‘multipolar’ order for the region. A 35 minute read.