Sea power and Maritime Geopolitics Flashcards
(39 cards)
What is sea blindness and why is it problematic?
Sea blindness is a society’s or government’s failure to recognize the sea’s role in security, commerce, and geopolitics. It’s dangerous because 90%+ of trade volume and 99% of internet traffic (via undersea cables) depend on maritime infrastructure. Ignoring maritime space is like ignoring your body’s circulatory system in a health checkup.
What is seapower and what are its four key components?
Seapower is a state’s ability to harness the sea for military, economic, political, and cultural advantage. It includes:
- Seafaring culture: skills, traditions, public engagement with the sea.
- Maritime commerce: ports, shipping lanes, trade networks.
- Naval power: warships, submarines, strategic deterrence.
- Maritime institutions: naval academies, legal frameworks, public support.
How does geography shape seapower?
Geography determines access to oceans, choke points, and natural defensibility. Britain’s insularity, Japan’s archipelago status, and Turkey’s control over Bosporus are strategic assets. States near chokepoints (e.g. Suez, Hormuz, Malacca) gain leverage like a landlord at a crossroads.
Why are ideational factors important for maritime strength?
Ideas and narratives—such as national pride in a navy or investment in naval education—influence political will and public funding. Mahan’s writings shaped U.S. and British naval expansion. A nation that culturally values the sea is more likely to maintain a global fleet.
How did Elizabethan England build seapower?
Elizabeth I empowered privateers (like Drake) to raid enemies, while investing in merchant fleets. Later, Parliament funded a standing navy. This combination of state initiative and commercial maritime enterprise set the foundation for British global dominance.
How is Switzerland maritime despite being landlocked?
Switzerland owns one of the world’s largest merchant fleets through flags of convenience and leads in maritime insurance and law. Swiss shipping firms operate globally. It shows maritime power isn’t just about coastlines—finance, regulation, and strategy matter too.
How is seapower linked to global dominance?
States like Britain, the Netherlands, and the U.S. achieved world power by controlling sea routes. Seapower underpins hegemonic cycles (Modelski & Thompson): global commerce and military reach rely on naval dominance. The sea is both battlefield and lifeline.
How have naval missions evolved from the Cold War to today?
During the Cold War, navies focused on deterrence and sea control. Post-1991, roles expanded to include power projection (e.g. Gulf Wars), peacekeeping, and disaster relief. Today, navies perform hybrid roles: constabulary (anti-piracy), diplomatic (port visits), and coercive (FONOPS in South China Sea).
What is A2/AD and how is it used?
Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) involves using long-range missiles, submarines, and radar to deny enemy forces access to a region. China uses A2/AD in the South China Sea to keep U.S. forces at bay—similar to putting a moat and archers around a fortress.
What are the modern functions of navies?
Navies perform:
- Power projection (carrier groups)
- Logistics/sealift
- Surveillance & intelligence
- Nuclear deterrence (SSBNs)
- Anti-piracy and embargo enforcement
- Naval diplomacy (port visits, joint drills)
- Cyber/undersea cable protection
What has the Ukraine war revealed about maritime strategy?
It showed how a weaker naval power (Ukraine) can use drones and coastal missile systems to disrupt a stronger navy (Russia). The Black Sea has become a contested zone of embargoes, grain routes, and missile warfare, affecting global food supplies.
How has China built its maritime power?
China evolved from coastal patrols to blue-water navy with carriers and destroyers. It uses the Belt and Road Initiative to gain port access (Piraeus, Gwadar) and expands commercial power through COSCO and state-owned shipyards. Its rise challenges U.S. naval supremacy.
Why are ports strategic geopolitical assets?
Ports are more than trade hubs; they’re staging grounds for military logistics and economic influence. China’s acquisition of Piraeus in Greece and development of Hambantota in Sri Lanka extend its presence globally. A port is a country’s maritime handshake.
What makes the Arctic geopolitically important?
Melting ice has opened Arctic shipping lanes, shortening routes between Asia and Europe. Russia is militarizing the region, and NATO is increasing patrols. The Arctic also holds fish stocks, oil, and rare earths—making it a new arena of competition.
Why is the Red Sea a global chokepoint?
The Red Sea connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, through which about 30% of global containers and 8% of oil pass. The 2021 Ever Given blockage exposed global reliance. Regional conflicts (Yemen, piracy) threaten its security.
What is the role of private actors in seapower?
Companies like Maersk (shipping), Lloyd’s (insurance), and Blackwater-type security firms influence maritime flows. Civilian vessels and private security are now critical parts of maritime geopolitics. This “corporate seapower” can rival state influence in certain zones.
What are shadow fleets and why do they matter?
Shadow fleets are state-aligned or sanctioned ships using flag-hopping and AIS-disabling tactics to evade detection. Russia uses them to bypass oil embargoes post-2022. These fleets sustain grey-market trade and complicate enforcement, akin to pirates with bank accounts.
Why are undersea cables strategically important?
Undersea cables carry nearly all internet and financial data. Damaging them can cause national-level outages. Threats include fishing activity, sabotage, and submarine espionage. Protecting these cables is now a critical, if often invisible, mission of navies and intelligence agencies.
What makes the sea difficult to govern and secure?
The sea is vast, uninhabitable, and fluid, making it hard to monitor. There are contested sovereignties and overlapping jurisdictions, and many actors with differing interests.
What are common maritime crimes?
Piracy, robbery, drug and arms trafficking, people smuggling, illegal fishing, pollution, and sabotage of undersea cables.
What is maritime security?
It is a concept encompassing traditional naval security, marine resource protection, human security, and ecological preservation.
What is ocean governance?
A complex, multi-stakeholder process involving international norms, laws, and coordination among states, NGOs, and private actors to manage ocean use and security.
What is the territorialization of the sea?
The process of turning the sea into administratively manageable zones like EEZs and MPAs, involving spatial planning and surveillance.
How does climate change impact maritime security?
It alters fish stocks, causes food insecurity and poverty, which can trigger maritime crime and state competition over resources.
