![]() 3 Forgetfulness toward the sea might prevail without compelling incentives. Unlike Britons, consequently, Americans had little need to venture seaward in search of prosperity. North America was abundantly endowed with natural resources. It straddled a continent, and thus had the luxury of turning inward. The naval historian also feared that the United States was not a natural seagoing nation. 2 Not until the Spanish-American War appeared to ratify his theories of marine supremacy-giving the United States a modest island empire to sustain foreign trade and commerce, all defended by a modern battle fleet-did Mahan become a household name for ordinary Americans. Mahan himself conceded that his most ardent admirers resided overseas, including in Great Britain, Japan, and Germany. 1 In light of this groundswell of interest, we espouse an ongoing renaissance in reading and debating Mahan’s treatises while speculating about the asymmetries his ideas could foster between seafaring states that hew to his thought and those that do not. Not only are his fundamental ideas encoded in the sea services’ cultural DNA, but his works have attracted the interest of Navy leadership, notably that of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson, who invokes Mahan in his “Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority.” As well, rising powers such as China pay homage to and draw inspiration from the evangelist of U.S. maritime strategic thought is less than rosy, but 19th-century theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan can still help to mend the situation. adversaries are studying the ideas of the great maritime strategist we should be doing the same.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |