Global Maritime Military Strategy, 1980–2023

This open access book is an ambitious study about how to use comparative methods to analyze contemporary military strategy in the maritime domain. Based on the three strategic concepts of area denial, sea control and power projection, this book analyzes the intensive conventional capabilities of six major powers’ military strategies. These include the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, the so-called ‘sea powers,’ and Russia, China and India, which are usually recognized as ‘land-powers.’Through the analysis, this book aims to accomplish the following three main objectives:

1. To reconsider the basic concepts of maritime military strategic studies, which have not changed for almost one hundred years, and to propose a new analytical framework based on the following three elements—as well as verifying the appropriateness of this framework.        

a. The capability with which a country can deny military threat against its territory through the maritime domain within the geographic theater, i.e., roughly one thousand to two thousand kilometers from its coastline (area denial).        

b. The capability with which a country can obtain military superiority or disrupt an adversary’s military superiority in the open ocean (sea control).        

c. The capability with which a country can project military power from the maritime domain to other countries’ territories, accomplishing military strategic objectives (power projection).

2. To verify the six major powers’ long-term military strategic objectives, for example, whether the country aims to enhance its power in the maritime domain, or to project its military power to the other countries/areas beyond the maritime domain; to do this by analyzing each country’s force building directions. In addition, this book assesses each country’s capability for high-intensive conflict and unravels each security/military strategic objectives.3. By examining the strategic objectives of major powers, this book may contribute to establishing Japan’s future defense strategy.