New Age of Naval Power in the Indo-Pacific : Strategy, Order, and Regional Security

A new framework contextualizes crucial international security issues at sea in the Indo-Pacific

Competition at sea is once again a central issue of international security. Nowhere is the urgency to address state-on-state competition at sea more strongly felt than in the Indo-Pacific region, where freedom of navigation is challenged by regional states’ continuous investments in naval power, and the renewed political will to use it to undermine its principles.

The New Age of Naval Power in the Indo-Pacific provides an original framework in which five “factors of influence” explain how and why naval power matters in this pivotal part of the world. An international group of contributors make the case that these five factors draw upon a longstanding influence of naval power on regional dynamics and impact the extent to which different states in the region use naval power: the capacity to exert control over sea-lanes, the capacity to deploy a nuclear deterrent at sea, the capacity to implement the law of the sea in an advantageous way, the ability to control marine resources, and the capacity for technological innovation.

The New Age of Naval Power in the Indo-Pacific offers a fresh approach for academics and policy makers seeking to navigate the complexity of maritime security and regional affairs.

Catherine L. Grant is a former research associate at the Naval Postgraduate School and a graduate of the master’s program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Alessio Patalano is a professor in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.

James A. Russell is an associate professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School.