News, Articles and Comment

Ed. With Commodore Matthew Perry USN as a case study, the author, associate professor of war studies and naval history at the US Naval Academy, makes the case for maritime balance in the character of the professional naval officer. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, September 2026. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The author, previously published in the NR [113/3, pg. 424] and now with a new book out on the subject, employs his extensive knowledge of Allied mediterranean submarine operations to tell the story of HMS Seraph, a symbol of Allied resolve, which played a critical role in the TORCH landings. A 15 minute read.

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. The author’s call for resilience with respect to coastal navigation support. Hormuz has shown the vulnerability but there are other emerging challenges to chokepoints like our own Dover Strait. First published in The House Magazine, May 2026. A 5 minute read.

Ed. The vast population of this ‘sceptred isle’ is ‘sea blind’ or, if you prefer, ‘maritime illiterate’. We should acknowledge this as the steady state and the only thing that could change one’s appreciation would be total war.

Ed. With historical and contemporary examples in mind, the author reconsiders naval strike as an indirect method of pursuing sea control. A 20 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. If the recent conflict in the Middle East has confirmed anything, it is that sea power remains essential to our nation’s prosperity. Much has been written about Operation EPIC FURY, the rapidly evolving threats we face and our ability to counter them, and how advances in drones, uncrewed and autonomous systems have forever changed the way we fight. But some things remain constant, as evidenced by Iran shutting the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits.