Superpowers At Sea

The arms race at sea is a dangerous nuclear race which is causing growing international concern and must be brought under control. What are the hard facts about the situation? This book documents the realities of the competition - especially the nuclearization of naval forces - and dispels some of the myths surrounding the naval arms race. This incisive analysis of naval forces of the East and West concludes that, contrary to common perceptions, the US and its allies have a considerable military advantage over the Soviet Navy, a trend which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The authors describe in detail the widespread nuclearization of naval forces of all five nuclear navies, analyse the implications for security and arms control, and conclude with suggestions for possible arms control measures.

This study focuses on the political and strategic implications of the presence in the Indian Ocean of the United States and the Soviet Union. The author examines the geopolitics of the region in historical perspective and describes the evolution of U.S. and Soviet strategy in the Indian Ocean. The central theme of the book is that the naval deployments of the superpowers should be seen in the context of each power's economic and security interests rather than in the context of military rivalry. The book provides an incisive and comprehensive account of U.S. and Soviet strategies in the Indian Ocean by establishing and integrating the links between the economic, political, and strategic dynamics of the situation.

From a brilliant Brookings Institution expert, an “important” (The Wall Street Journal) and “penetrating historical and political study” (Nature) of the critical role that oceans play in the daily struggle for global power, in the bestselling tradition of Robert Kaplan’s The Revenge of Geography. For centuries, oceans were the chessboard on which empires battled for supremacy. But in the nuclear age, air power and missile systems dominated our worries about security, and for the United States, the economy was largely driven by domestic production, with trucking and railways that crisscrossed the continent serving as the primary modes of commercial transit. All that has changed, as nine-tenths of global commerce and the bulk of energy trade is today linked to sea-based flows. A brightly painted forty-foot steel shipping container loaded in Asia with twenty tons of goods may arrive literally anywhere else in the world; how that really happens and who actually profits from it show that the struggle for power on the seas is a critical issue today. Now, in vivid, closely observed prose, Bruce Jones conducts us on a fascinating voyage through the great modern ports and naval bases—from the vast container ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai to the vital naval base of the American Seventh Fleet in Hawaii to the sophisticated security arrangements in the Port of New York. Along the way, the book illustrates how global commerce works, that we are amidst a global naval arms race, and why the oceans are so crucial to America’s standing going forward. As Jones reveals, the three great geopolitical struggles of our time—for military power, for economic dominance, and over our changing climate—are playing out atop, within, and below the world’s oceans. The essential question, he shows, is this: who will rule the waves and set the terms of the world to come?

From a brilliant Brookings Institution expert, an “important” (The Wall Street Journal) and “penetrating historical and political study” (Nature) of the critical role that oceans play in the daily struggle for global power, in the bestselling tradition of Robert Kaplan’s The Revenge of Geography. For centuries, oceans were the chessboard on which empires battled for supremacy. But in the nuclear age, air power and missile systems dominated our worries about security, and for the United States, the economy was largely driven by domestic production, with trucking and railways that crisscrossed the continent serving as the primary modes of commercial transit. All that has changed, as nine-tenths of global commerce and the bulk of energy trade is today linked to sea-based flows. A brightly painted forty-foot steel shipping container loaded in Asia with twenty tons of goods may arrive literally anywhere else in the world; how that really happens and who actually profits from it show that the struggle for power on the seas is a critical issue today. Now, in vivid, closely observed prose, Bruce Jones conducts us on a fascinating voyage through the great modern ports and naval bases—from the vast container ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai to the vital naval base of the American Seventh Fleet in Hawaii to the sophisticated security arrangements in the Port of New York. Along the way, the book illustrates how global commerce works, that we are amidst a global naval arms race, and why the oceans are so crucial to America’s standing going forward. As Jones reveals, the three great geopolitical struggles of our time—for military power, for economic dominance, and over our changing climate—are playing out atop, within, and below the world’s oceans. The essential question, he shows, is this: who will rule the waves and set the terms of the world to come?

(Note for Jacket--see Marketing File-so/10/26]The vast, politically turbulent region encompassing the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, forty-two littoral states, and one third of the world's population is one of the most potentially explosive theaters of superpower rivalry. In this study, three American and three Indian authors, reflecting different perspectives and areas of expertise, examine the principal factors that have led to the escalation of superpower tensions in the region: the war in Afghanistan, and its spillover into the Afghanistan-Pakistani borderlands; the Indo-Pakistani nuclear arms race; ethnic tensions in Sri Lanka; the Iran-Iraq war; Islamic fundamentalism; and the rapidly growing military presence of the superpowers in the area. Considering how India's emergence as a military power is influencing superpower and indigenous tensions in the region, the contributors compare Indian, American, and Soviet interests, and offer solutions for current Indian-American disagreements.