News, Articles and Comment

Ed. The author’s investigation into the history of maritime strait multilateralism, a pertinent example of the ad hoc nature of sea control resulting from a rules-based vacuum, and the alternatives available to regional powers. A 25 minute read.

Ed. In the Sixteenth century, Portugal 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. As Operation EPIC FURY ebbs and flows, may I propose a new principle of war? Always follow the money.

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. Originally published in November 2012 [100/4, p. 363], members may find this article from the NR’s archive instructive as to how geostrategic developments in the Persian Gulf have changed (or not) over the past decade and a half. A 25 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 contends it is a fallacy that a US war with China over Taiwan could be contained to the western Pacific, and proposes a three-pronged strategy to counter the PRC. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, November edition. A 10 minute read.