Peacetime Naval Rearmament, 1933–39: Lessons for Today

US Naval War College Review – Following World War I, the USN fleet was outdated and undersized, but a time of naval resurgence began in 1933, adding modern ships to the U.S. fleet and revitalizing the American shipbuilding industry. In many ways, this period mirrors the post–Cold War state of the fleet, but the principal actors vary greatly in their level of coordination and commitment to building the Navy the nation needs.

U.S.-China Tensions and How the Unmanned Military Craft Raise the Risk of War

CIMSEC – The immediate danger from militarized artificial intelligence isn’t hordes of killer robots, nor the exponential pace of a new arms race. As recent events in the Strait of Hormuz indicate, the bigger risk is the fact that autonomous military craft make for temping targets – and increase the potential for miscalculation on and above the high seas.

Strategy on Top of the World Part 2: Regional Arctic Perspectives

CIMSEC – The High North will almost certainly be a zone of competition. If Russia can take a hegemonic role there, it will lean on its military presence and the relative lack of international rules and norms for it to control the region. The Chinese are not far behind. American absence from the Arctic has weakened its stance with respect to great power competition and serves to upend the Navy’s stated mission of freedom of navigation.

From Russian Presence to Sailboat Traffic, U.S. Learning What’s ‘Normal’ Far From Home

USNI News – The U.S. military invests significant time and effort into conducting training exercises and patrols overseas – and while it does provide opportunities for sailors to have port calls in interesting places and build interoperability with allies and partners, it also helps build upon U.S. knowledge of what “normal” is in waterways around the world.

The One-Eyed Man is King

USNI Blog – America’s Navy, You live in the land of the blind, comforted in the darkness by your weaponry, your history, and your hubris. You believe you understand the threat and that all your competitors in this new Great Power contest are enveloped in the same blinding fog of future war. But we are not equal: you are at a disadvantage in this game—you are beholden to a past age and must predict and anticipate changes as they proliferate and develop across a world system toeing the edge of collapse, as we rise on its demise.

Naval Deployments, Exercises, and the Geometry of Strategic Partnerships in the Indo-Pacific

CIMSEC – From March to June 2019 naval diplomacy and an underlying strategic geometry was on show as India, Australia, France, and Japan deployed across and around the Indo-Pacific. All of them were involved in operating with each other, with the U.S., and with other actors in the region like Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines.