A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower is the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

' newest maritime strategy. It was presented by the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations

Chief of Naval Operations

The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...

 and the Commandants of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard at the International Seapower Symposium at the U.S. Naval War College

Naval War College

The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...

 in Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

 on October 17, 2007. The new maritime strategy explains the comprehensive role of the sea services in an era marked by globalization and uncertainty.

The development of a new strategy began in June 2006 at the direction of former Chief of Naval Operations

Chief of Naval Operations

The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...

, Admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

 Mike Mullen who is now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...

. The last maritime strategy was published at the height of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 in 1986 and needed to be updated to reflect the challenges of the 21st century. This was the first maritime strategy to be signed by the leaders of all three U.S. sea services, the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard.

A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower is not infused with typical military-focused language. The strategy makes a case for the value of seapower in preserving the American way of life by maintaining safe, global commerce operations across the seas. It acknowledges that there is a global system of connected economies which depends on the freedom of movement across the maritime commons; the principal means for the transit of 90% of the world’s commerce by weight and volume. With such a global interconnection of economies, shocks to the system caused by regional conflicts, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and war all have potential global impact. The strategy states that U.S. vital interests are best served by having forward positioned maritime forces around the globe, postured in a way to prevent, deter, limit, and localize conflicts, wars, and disruptions to the global system that all rely upon. International from beginning to end, the strategy describes the necessity to forge global partnerships to establish a resilient peace.

During testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on December 13, 2007, General

General (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...

 James Conway, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps said:

The basic premise of our newly published maritime strategy is that the United States is a force for good in the world-that while we are capable of launching a clenched fist when we must- offering the hand of friendship is also an essential and prominent tool in our kit. That premise flows from the belief that preventing wars is as important as winning wars.

Expanding naval core capabilities

A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower articulates that U.S. maritime forces be able to operate across the full spectrum of operations, raising the prevention of war to a level equal to the conduct of war. The strategy delineates the following six expanded core capabilities for U.S. Seapower to achieve a balance of peacetime engagement and major combat operations capabilities:

1. Forward presence
2. Deterrence
3. Sea control
4. Power projection
5. Maritime security
6. Humanitarian assistance/disaster response

The first four core elements listed have always been fundamental to U.S. maritime forces and were essential elements to the United States and its allies and partners during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

. The last two, Maritime Security and Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response, were elevated to core elements by the new maritime strategy. The U.S. sea services have traditionally done these types of missions but they will seek to be more proactive and purposeful in training, missions, and resourcing the missions and capabilities associated with them.

The new maritime strategy reaffirms the need for regionally concentrated, forward deployed combat power; but also places emphasis on globally distributed, mission-tailored maritime forces. Specifically the new maritime strategy states that:

1. Regionally concentrated, credible combat power: The U.S.sea services will maintain credible combat power forward "in the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf
   Persian Gulf
   The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
   
    [sic]/Indian Ocean
   Indian Ocean
   The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
   
    to protect vital interests, assure friends and allies of the continuing U.S. commitment to regional security, and deter and dissuade potential adversaries and peer competitors." The maritime strategy states that the U.S. does not seek adversaries, nor single out any one nation, but will be best postured to maintain security and freedom of movement across the maritime domain.
2. Globally distributed, mission-tailored maritime forces: The U.S. sea services will establish a persistent global presence using distributed forces that are organized by mission, comprising integrated U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard capabilities. Aircraft Carrier
   Aircraft carrier
   An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
   
    and Expeditionary Strike Groups will continue to deploy much as they do now, but they will also use smaller groups or units to provide this presence across the globe, such as the Global Fleet Station.

In signing a cooperative strategy, the U.S. sea services also raise the importance of cooperative relationships as the basis for global maritime security – a common goal of all maritime nations regardless of political differences. Maritime nations have always shared common interests on the sea and even land-locked nations rely on the safety of those seas to maintain and enhance their way of life. The challenge for the United States is how to apply seapower in a manner that protects U.S. vital and domestic interests, even as it promotes greater collective security, stability, and trust across the globe.

During the presentation of the new strategy to nearly 100 chiefs of navies and coast guards from around the world at the Naval War College on October 17, 2007, Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead

Gary Roughead

Gary Roughead is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who last served as the 29th Chief of Naval Operations from September 29, 2007 to September 22, 2011. He previously served as Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, from May 17, 2007, to September 29, 2007. Prior to that he served as...

, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, said humanitarian and disaster aid is built on, “peace-time relationships to help mitigate human suffering by working together with other agencies and other nations responding to crises.”

While presenting the U.S. Coast Guard perspective on the new U.S. maritime strategy at the same symposium, Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, said the new maritime strategy reinforced the time-honored missions his service carried out in this U.S. since 1790. He said:

It reinforces the Coast Guard maritime strategy of safety, security and stewardship, and it reflects not only the global reach of our maritime services but the need to integrate and synchronize and act with our coalition and international partners to not only win wars ... but to prevent wars .

The new strategy is viewed as a welcome makeover from the Soviet-centric document developed in 1986, but has drawn some criticism from military analysts who say it is too broad-based and lacked a fourth, “implementation” stage. Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman

John Lehman

John F. Lehman, Jr. is an American investment banker and writer who served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration and in 2003–04 was a member of the 9/11 Commission....

 hailed its tenets but pointed out it was lacking information on the actual hardware needed to carry out the policy. In the November 2007 issue of Proceedings magazine, he explained, “we (need) a clear and well-articulated statement of what we need to implement that strategy – tightly bound to the strategy itself.” He concedes however, that the most important attribute of the updated strategy is, “that it exists at all … and that its development was taken so seriously.”

Development of the new maritime strategy

The new maritime strategy included many voices during its development. Input was sought from individuals and organizations such as the United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

, the Joint Staff, Unified Combatant Command

Unified Combatant Command

A Unified Combatant Command is a United States Department of Defense command that is composed of forces from at least two Military Departments and has a broad and continuing mission. These commands are established to provide effective command and control of U.S. military forces, regardless of...

s, business and academia and other U.S. interagency partners.

During development of the new strategy, military planners sought to address the changing 21st century world and anticipate key uncertainties such as what the United States' grand military strategy and foreign policy will be in the next few decades. Planners considered a range of maritime strategy options: primacy, cooperative security, selective engagement and offshore balance. These paradigms commonly are used by military planners to measure the quality of strategic components against hypothetical challenges. A series of war games conducted by the Naval War College helped determine which options were the best to focus upon.

From six hypothetical paradigms, planners drafted five possible maritime strategies, which were later whittled down to three. With three strategies in hand, teams of senior leaders and military planners from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard traveled to locations around the United States to present the strategy options to American citizens as part of a program called the “Conversation with the Country” to elicit their feedback and input on potential strategies.

The Conversation with the Country program is discussed in the preface of the new strategy:

Our citizens were deeply involved in development of this strategy through a series of public forums known as the “Conversations with the Country.” Three themes dominated these discussions: our people want us to remain strong; they want us to protect them and our homeland; and they want us to work with partners around the world to prevent war. This message, coupled with rigorous academic research, analysis and debate, led to a comprehensive strategy designed to meet the expectations and needs of the American people.

The sea services hosted "Conversations with the Country" in the following cities during the development of the maritime strategy:

1. Phoenix
   Phoenix, Arizona
   Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
   
    – January 24, 2007
2. Atlanta – February 9, 2007
3. Seattle – March 9, 2007
4. San Francisco – March 12, 2007
5. Chicago
   Chicago
   Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
   
    – April 9, 2007
6. New York
   New York
   New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
   
    – April 16, 2007

Feedback from the participants in the first round of the Conversations with the Country program helped shape the final maritime strategy, which was unveiled October 17, 2007. Another round of Conversations began following the launch of the new maritime strategy that brought senior officers from the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard to more U.S. cities, where they presented the new strategy to business and civic leaders and discussed future roles of the three sea services in protecting the homeland and working with global partners to prevent war. American cities visited since the new strategy was unveiled were:

1. Miami – November 15, 2007
2. Houston – January 24, 2008
3. Portland
   Portland, Oregon
   Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
   
    – February 21. 2008
4. Denver – March 27, 2008
5. Los Angeles
   Los Ángeles
   Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
   
    – April 17, 2008

In addition to the city symposia, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard leaders met with local universities and faculty in a program called “Campus Conversations.” Sea service leadership felt it was important to present the strategy to future leaders and listen to feedback. Campus Conversations took place at the following universities:

1. University of Miami
   University of Miami
   The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
   
    – November 16, 2007
2. Rice University
   Rice University
   William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
   
    – January 23, 2008
3. Oregon State University
   Oregon State University
   Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
   
    – February 20, 2008
4. Denver University – March 26, 2008
5. University of Southern California
   University of Southern California
   The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
   
    – April 15, 2008

Humanitarian and disaster relief operations and seapower strategy

A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower calls for a diplomacy-building approach echoing the mantra that “preventing wars is as important as winning wars” and “focuses on opportunities versus threats; on optimism over fear and on confidence instead of doubt.” It recognizes the challenges imposed by the uncertain conditions in a time of rapid change and makes pro-active assistance and disaster response crucial elements to building relationships across nations. By working with the U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and non-governmental organizations, maritime forces provide unique capabilities to bear in times of crisis as set forth in the strategy.

While humanitarian missions are generally not traditionally thought of as major sea service missions, military leaders say these tasks are crucial for promoting maritime security. Admiral Gary Roughead said this strategy takes homeland defense, “a step further.” He says that “through globally persistent, maritime forces, U.S. seapower will always exist primarily to fight and help win our nation’s wars but... we can do more.”

When Tropical Cyclone Sidr struck the southern coast of Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

 on November 15, 2007, U.S. Navy Sailors and Marines offered almost immediate assistance. Within days, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), embarked on the amphibious ship , was in the devastated country providing crucial care to wounded and displaced citizens. Military corpsmen and doctors bandaged the wounded and worked in concert with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) helping the neediest from a storm that left several hundred thousand Bangladeshis homeless. After the storm, U.S. service members also provided maritime security patrols around the coast of Bangladesh.

The military sea services also responded swiftly to the tsunami

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

 that struck Indonesia and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 in December 2004. Marines from Naval Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit Six (NEPMU-6) left their home base of Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 a few days later deploying to Indonesia. Once there, dozens of NEPMU members provided humanitarian support including medical help and conducted water quality testing and insect collection for disease examination. Less than a week after the storm hit, Navy helicopters from the aircraft carrier, were flying over the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 transporting supplies, bringing in disaster relief teams and supporting humanitarian airlifts to tsunami-stricken coastal regions.

The U.S. Coast Guard provided relief to the tsunami-affected regions of Southeast Asia, delivering over 40,000 pounds of food January 21, 2005 in the form of emergency high energy biscuits, to Medan, Indonesia and over 21,000 pounds of medical supplies, and temporary shelters to Utaphao, Thailand via two Coast Guard C130 airplanes. Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter shuttled more than 80 tons of humanitarian relief supplies from Singapore to the Navy amphibious assault ship for distribution to tsunami victims in northern Indonesia.

Admiral Gary Roughead said the U.S. response to the 2004 tsunami

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

 in Southeast Asia was, “a demonstration to ourselves and to others of the value of being able to render humanitarian assistance and disaster response from the sea.” He added, “There is no way we could have done it without the sea-based capabilities of an aircraft carrier and expeditionary forces.”

The U.S. sea services also respond to domestic emergencies when needed. When Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 flooded large portions of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, maritime forces responded. Following the late-summer storm, , and other Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

-based Navy ships headed to the Gulf Coast to help with relief efforts. Thousands of military members were dispatched including Naval Mobile Construction Battalions and six Disaster Relief Teams (DRTs) providing amphibious construction equipment, medical personnel and supplies to the flooded areas.

Global partnerships

Speaking to the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC) October 17, 2007, Vice Chief of Naval Operations

Vice Chief of Naval Operations

The Vice Chief of Naval Operations is the second highest ranking officer in the United States Navy. In the event that the Chief of Naval Operations is absent or is unable to perform his duties, the VCNO assumes the duties and responsibilities of the CNO. The VCNO may also perform other duties...

, Admiral Patrick M. Walsh

Patrick M. Walsh

Admiral Patrick M. Walsh, USN is the 59th Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He served as the 35th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from April 2007 to August 13, 2009, and as Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet from October 2005 to February 27, 2007...

 spoke of a ”global system in transition…unsettled, unbalanced and potentially dangerous for the U.S. and the global community, means we need to seek a balanced and stable world, one where we can be best postured and trained to promote stability.” He discussed the importance of partnering with allies, relief organizations and maritime forces of other nations for a long-term approach and doing so, “before a contingency situation arises.”

According to U.S. military leaders, a key ingredient to carrying out a successful maritime strategy is building relationships with other countries before an emergency strikes. Admiral Walsh told the group that the maritime strategy’s long-term goal was for a “sustained approach (so that) when we train, organize, equip and recruit, it’s with that goal of building strong global partnerships in mind.” Admiral Walsh added that developing relationships with other countries during peace-time promotes global security. “What’s important today is what we build in peace. What comes next is generosity, humanity, recognition of other positions without compromise of national interests.”

Africa Partnership Station

Bilateral relationship development is happening currently with operations such as the Navy’s Africa Partnership Station, (APS). This sea service focused program has U.S. and European troops working alongside non-governmental organizations and governmental organizations to promote better maritime security and stability in the waters off West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

. During a seven-month deployment that began October 30, 2007, crews of two U.S. Navy ships conducted exercises and port visits with their counterparts throughout West and Central Africa

Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....

 and the Gulf of Guinea

Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf....

.

The team, made up of representatives of multiple U.S. federal agencies, was embarked on the amphibious dock landing ship and the High Speed Vessel Swift

HSV-2 Swift

HSV-2 Swift is a non-commissioned, hybrid catamaran originally leased by the United States Navy as a mine countermeasures and sea basing test platform. She is now privately owned and operated by Sealift Inc. and charted to Military Sealift Command. She is primarily used for fleet support and...

, where they conducted training exercises with their African partners to help build their capacity to increase maritime security in their regional waters. The training focused on building critical “at sea” skills that included boarding, search and seizure, search and rescue, damage control and other critical skills.

In March 2008, the Navy partnered with the private non-governmental organization, Project Hope

Project Hope

Project Hope is a Chinese public service project organized by the China Youth Development Foundation and the Communist Youth League Central Committee. Started on October 30, 1989, it aims to bring schools into poverty-stricken rural areas of China, to help children whose families are too poor...

 delivering half a billion dollars worth of medical supplies and equipment to nations throughout West Africa as part of the Africa Partnership Station

Africa Partnership Station

Africa Partnership Station is an international initiative developed by United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa, which works cooperatively with U.S...

 program. On March 27, 2008, Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

’s president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, visited Liberian Army members on board the Fort McHenry who were taking leadership courses with their U.S. military counterparts. She lauded the Africa Partnership Station for coming to Liberia to provide humanitarian and military services to the people of Liberia as well as personnel of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Speaking at program marking the donation of medical supplies and equipment, as well as, postal boxes to the government of Liberia by the U.S. Navy in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Liberia, Johnson-Sirleaf said “it was amazing to see people from different countries volunteering their services to help others who were in need.”

Maritime cooperation

A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower highlights cooperation by the U.S. sea services with maritime counterparts around the world. It calls for U.S. maritime forces and their international partners to be vigilant about keeping the sea lanes free and open for commerce, ensuring pirates and smugglers are thwarted and sea borne terrorist events are prevented.

The "Thousand Ship Navy" concept, later renamed the "Global Maritime Partnership," calls for the voluntary development of networked and self-organizing partnerships to guard the martitime commons. Such coalitions have taken shape over the last decade in response to piracy

Piracy

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...

 off the coast of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 and in the Strait of Malacca

Strait of Malacca

The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1414 to 1511.-Extent:...

.

Speaking at the International Seapower Symposium held at the Naval War College October 17, 2007, U.S. Navy Admiral Gary Roughead said the key to maritime security is being aware of that which is, “moving above, on and under the ocean, or “maritime domain awareness”. Roughead told the international audience that trust among nations is critical to carrying out the strategy and that “trust cannot be surged… it is something that must be built over time, through discussions, activities and through exercises (and) initiatives that each of us may undertake and bring others into.”

Additional reading

• Tangredi, Sam, "Globalization and Maritime Power", 2002 - National Defense University, ISBN 1-57906-060-9
• Sea Service Chiefs Present Strategy for New Maritime Era, Navy News Service, October 17, 2007
• Kaplan, Robert, “The Navy’s New Flat-Earth Strategy” The Atlantic, December 2007
• Lubold, Gordon “U.S. Navy Aims To Flex 'Soft Power'” Christian Science Monitor, December 27, 2007
• “The New Maritime Strategy – The Rest of the Story”, Naval War College Review, from Spring 2008, Published quarterly.

External links

• A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower
• Official U.S. Navy Website: http://www.navy.mil/
• Official U.S. Coast Guard Website: http://www.uscg.mil
• Official U.S. Marine Corps Website: http://www.usmc.mil