Center for International Maritime Security Fostering the Discussion on Securing the Seas.
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The Sicilian Expedition: Lessons from an Ancient Disasterby Guest Author on 3 April 2026 at 10:00 amBy Austin McLaughlin The world’s preeminent naval power launched a vast armada west to secure distant allies from a threatening rival. It underestimated the enemy’s resolve. The rival rallied, repelled the invaders, and left the naval power reeling—its fleet shattered, alliances frayed, and homeland stunned. This isn’t a U.S.-China clash in the Taiwan Strait, but … Continue reading The Sicilian Expedition: Lessons from an Ancient Disaster →
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Defending Global Order Against China’s Maritime Insurgency – Part 2by Guest Author on 1 April 2026 at 10:00 am
By Dan White and Hunter Stires Dan White: China’s behavior in the South China Sea, along with efforts to highlight it such as the Philippines Transparency Initiative, and deter it such as the Maritime Counterinsurgency Project do appear to be changing public opinion. This year 51.6% of respondents to the State of Southeast Asia 2025 … Continue reading Defending Global Order Against China’s Maritime Insurgency – Part 2 →
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Hedge with Non-Kinetic Defenseby Guest Author on 30 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Connor Keating In April 2025, Admiral Samuel Paparo delivered his annual posture statement to the House Armed Services Committee, arguing that the United States must invest in several capabilities to remain competitive in the Indo-Pacific: command, control, computing, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (C5ISRT); counter-C5ISRT (C‑C5ISRT); fires; integrated air and missile defense … Continue reading Hedge with Non-Kinetic Defense →
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Asymmetry Rising: How Autonomous Systems Enforce Sea Denialby Guest Author on 30 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Rudraksh Pathak Naval warfare is approaching a point where the traditional capital ship is no longer an unambiguous asset in contested waters. For decades, naval power was measured in tonnage and platforms: the size of destroyers, the number of vertical launch cells, the quietness of submarines. That framework still matters, but it is no … Continue reading Asymmetry Rising: How Autonomous Systems Enforce Sea Denial →
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Russia’s Irregular Maritime Statecraft in the Baltic Seaby Guest Author on 27 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Joe Durigan and Craig Whiteside Since 2022, Russia has sharply increased its employment of illegal/coercive/aggressive/deceptive (ICAD) maritime tactics in the Baltic Sea, often loosely referred to as “gray zone” activities. Assessing Russian hostility toward Europe, new NATO chief Mark Rutte recently noted that “Russia is already escalating its covert campaign against our societies” and … Continue reading Russia’s Irregular Maritime Statecraft in the Baltic Sea →
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Defending Global Order Against China’s Maritime Insurgency – Part 1by Guest Author on 25 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Dan White and Hunter Stires The international order has come under immense strain in recent years. Major wars have erupted between the great powers in Ukraine and the Middle East. The U.S.’s top geopolitical rivals have increasingly coalesced, with China and Russia both rapidly modernizing and expanding their arsenals of strategic weapons. Meanwhile, a … Continue reading Defending Global Order Against China’s Maritime Insurgency – Part 1 →
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The Unwitting Fleetby Guest Author on 23 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Eva Prokofiev Thousands of commercial and private vessels transit the world’s oceans daily, broadcasting positional data, transmitting communications through exploitable unencrypted satellite communications, and connecting to shoreside networks with minimal security. Adversaries do not need to build dedicated collection strategies when the commercial fleet functions as a distributed sensor network accessible to anyone with … Continue reading The Unwitting Fleet →
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Why America Needs a Four-Ocean Navyby Guest Author on 20 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Derek S. Reveron Rethinking America’s Strategic Map When Americans think about how the United States engages the world, we instinctively reach for maps. Our government bureaucracies are organized this way: regional bureaus at the State Department, unified commands at the Department of Defense, and component commands within the Navy. We have neatly drawn boundaries … Continue reading Why America Needs a Four-Ocean Navy →
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Operation Highmast: UK Eastern Deployment for a “Two-Carrier Navy”by Guest Author on 18 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By David Scott Operation Highmast, running from April to November 2025, took a UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG), led by HMS Prince of Wales, over 40,000 nautical miles to the Sea of Japan and back. The CSG consisted of five UK vessels, with eight others joining the CSG at various stages from other navies. Three … Continue reading Operation Highmast: UK Eastern Deployment for a “Two-Carrier Navy” →
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Driving Toward Distributed Maritime Operations: Getting the Navy Out of Its VLS Holeby Guest Author on 16 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Peter Kouretsos The Department of War is addressing its critical shortfall in precision munitions, but it also needs more platforms capable of using them. This is especially true for the U.S. Navy. As the number of missile-equipped vessels shrinks, the Navy risks sailing into a dangerous trough, just as operational demands in the Indo-Pacific … Continue reading Driving Toward Distributed Maritime Operations: Getting the Navy Out of Its VLS Hole →
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Turkey’s Air-to-Air Drone Test and the Logic of Middle-Power Alliance Stressby Guest Author on 13 March 2026 at 10:00 am
by Lawrence J Kaiser In late 2025, Turkey conducted a successful test of an air-to-air missile launched from an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). At first glance, the event appeared to be a narrow technical milestone — another incremental advance in the rapid evolution of drone warfare. Yet in strategic terms, the test reveals something … Continue reading Turkey’s Air-to-Air Drone Test and the Logic of Middle-Power Alliance Stress →
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Sailor’s First – Aligning the Leadership Continuumby Guest Author on 11 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By CAPT Paul W. Nickell, USN, MA, MBA The Sailor is the Navy. No Navy is better than its Sailors. An unstructured, disconnected leadership continuum is a disservice to our Sailors and our Navy. The ideal Navy starts with the ideal Sailor. Now is the time for a coherent, connected Sailors First leadership continuum. Introduction … Continue reading Sailor’s First – Aligning the Leadership Continuum →
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The United States Can’t Deter China Without Allied Shipyardsby Guest Author on 9 March 2026 at 10:00 am
By Patrick M. Cronin and David Glick Introduction Industrial endurance and allied integration are indispensable to making deterrence-by-denial against China credible under the 2026 National Defense Strategy. The Trump administration’s Maritime Action Plan rightly elevates cooperation with South Korea and Japan. But viewing these allies as a temporary bridge to U.S. revitalization understates the scale … Continue reading The United States Can’t Deter China Without Allied Shipyards →
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Mass Drones to Save Missiles: A High–Low Mix for the Pacificby Guest Author on 6 March 2026 at 11:00 am
By Connor Keating The future of conflict in the Western Pacific will hinge on sustaining firepower over vast distances with finite magazines and vulnerable logistics. The Russia‑Ukraine war and much of history show that victory has never relied on a small inventory of exquisite, high‑cost weapons.1 Instead, success increasingly rests on combining massed, affordable drones … Continue reading Mass Drones to Save Missiles: A High–Low Mix for the Pacific →
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Can an Interagency Task Force Work in the Arctic?by Guest Author on 4 March 2026 at 11:00 am
By Jeffrey Kucik and Veronica De Allende An increasingly accessible Arctic raises questions about U.S. responsibilities in the region. There are two core challenges. First, Russia’s (re)militarization of its Arctic coastline, coupled with growing Chinese activity—often enabled by Moscow—signals rising geopolitical competition in the region. Second, the United States has an interest in preserving a … Continue reading Can an Interagency Task Force Work in the Arctic? →
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Enduring the Storm: Reflections on the U.S. Navy’s “Fat Leonard” Scandalby Guest Author on 2 March 2026 at 11:00 am
By Rear Admiral Bruce Loveless, U.S. Navy (Ret.) Heavy Seas Heavy seas do calm with time. Yet long after headlines fade and public attention moves on, those who endure them continue to feel their weight—professionally, personally, and often in silence. The Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) case—widely known as the “Fat Leonard” scandal and the … Continue reading Enduring the Storm: Reflections on the U.S. Navy’s “Fat Leonard” Scandal →
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Useful Lemonsby Guest Author on 27 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Jason Flores Rutledge Introduction The People’s Republic of China (PRC) represents a strong threat to the United States due to its rapid military expansion and destabilizing actions in the Indo-Pacific theater. The Indo-Pacific represents about twenty-seven percent of US trade and is vital to remain accessible to the United States.1,2 Confronting the threat is … Continue reading Useful Lemons →
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Archers Need Arrows: Deficiencies in U.S. Submarine Munitionsby Guest Author on 26 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Alana Davis In 2023, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) wargamed a conflict between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Reflecting 24 iterations of the wargame, the study weighed if China could succeed in invading Taiwan in 2026 and examined the variables affecting the outcome. Although … Continue reading Archers Need Arrows: Deficiencies in U.S. Submarine Munitions →
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Taiwan’s Layered Air Defence and the Calculus of Deterrenceby Guest Author on 24 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Guarav Sen In any future Taiwan Strait conflict, the opening phase would be decisive – not because it guarantees victory, but because it shapes escalation, operational momentum, and political decision-making. The identification of a centre of gravity in Taiwan’s defence is therefore contingent on the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) campaign objectives, which vary across … Continue reading Taiwan’s Layered Air Defence and the Calculus of Deterrence →
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A Concept of Operations for Achieving a Navy Fleet of 500 Shipsby Guest Author on 20 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Captain George Galdorisi The U. S. Navy stands at the precipice of a new era of technology advancement. In an address at a military-industry conference, the then-U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, revealed the Navy’s goal to grow to 500 ships, to include 350 crewed ships and 150 uncrewed maritime vessels. This … Continue reading A Concept of Operations for Achieving a Navy Fleet of 500 Ships →
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Optimizing Reactor Plant Maintenance: The Case for Shipboard SLMsby Guest Author on 18 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By LT P.J. Greenbaum and LT Vince Freschi Introduction Operational availability is the Nuclear Navy’s bread and butter, yet shipboard technicians are currently prevented from improving maintenance outcomes by an archaic data bottleneck. Scheduled maintenance to prevent system degradation or failure is planned years in advance and kept up-to-date utilizing detailed records boards which meticulously … Continue reading Optimizing Reactor Plant Maintenance: The Case for Shipboard SLMs →
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Pitfalls in Political Warship Designsby Guest Author on 16 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Steve Wills “When leaders design warships the results are often mixed.” Leaders throughout history, going back at least to the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut, have commissioned the building of great fleets for national security purposes. Henry 8th and Elizabeth 1 created fleets for the defense of England. George Washington authorized the first Continental navy units, … Continue reading Pitfalls in Political Warship Designs →
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A Sustainable Approach to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery?by Guest Author on 13 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Julian Pawlak and Deniz Kocak Piracy, armed robbery, and kidnapping continue to pose significant threats to global shipping and maritime security.1 While the terms are frequently used synonymously, differentiation is crucial. According to the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), piracy is defined as “any illegal acts of violence or detention, … Continue reading A Sustainable Approach to Counter Piracy and Armed Robbery? →
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What the Royal Thai Navy’s Offshore Fire Support Reveals About Its Approach to Littoral Warfareby Guest Author on 9 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Hadrien T. Saperstein In December 2025, clashes along the Cambodia–Thailand border turned into open conflict for over a week, suspending the peace agreement brokered by Malaysia and the United States. Artillery, rockets, drones, and airstrikes turned rural districts into battlespaces. By mid-month, at least twenty people were killed, hundreds wounded, and over half a … Continue reading What the Royal Thai Navy’s Offshore Fire Support Reveals About Its Approach to Littoral Warfare →
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Russia’s Strategic Brown Water Capabilities: A NATO Blind Spot?by Guest Author on 2 February 2026 at 11:00 am
By Helge Adrians Russia is working to integrate inland waterways more deeply into its deterrence and defense posture. In Western contexts, this area of maritime geography is usually termed the ‘brown water zone.’ A harbinger of that development was the October 2015 strike against positions of Islamist groups in Syria, carried out by small warships … Continue reading Russia’s Strategic Brown Water Capabilities: A NATO Blind Spot? →
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Leading the Digital Fight: How the Navy’s IW Community Must Innovate to Winby Guest Author on 29 January 2026 at 11:00 am
By Shane Halton and Adam Reiffen “When companies spend millions of dollars on new information technologies but don’t change anything else, there are usually barely detectable productivity improvements. In contrast, when they also invest similar amounts in business process changes and in worker training, productivity can double or more.”-The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and … Continue reading Leading the Digital Fight: How the Navy’s IW Community Must Innovate to Win →
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Washington’s Misplaced Shipbuilding Obsessionby Guest Author on 28 January 2026 at 11:00 am
By Colin Grabow In a year dominated by sharp partisanship, numerous lawmakers improbably united around the revival of America’s commercial shipbuilding industry. Congressional legislation that would channel billions into shipyard subsidies and new trade restrictions attracted scores of cosponsors. The White House issued an executive order aimed at maritime revitalization, and a trade pact with … Continue reading Washington’s Misplaced Shipbuilding Obsession →
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Sea Control 595: China’s Command Revolution with Elsa Kaniaby Guest Author on 28 January 2026 at 10:30 am
By Brian Kerg Dr. Elsa Kania joins the program to discuss her dissertation, “China’s Command Revolution,” which examines the reforms, adaptation, and emerging innovation in Chinese military command capabilities. Dr. Elsa Kania received her PhD in Government from Harvard University. She served as a visiting scholar for the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, as an … Continue reading Sea Control 595: China’s Command Revolution with Elsa Kania →
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Sea Control: 594: From Hulls to Pods with Emma Salisburyby Guest Author on 27 January 2026 at 11:00 am
By J. Overton Dr. Emma Salisbury joins the program to discuss her essay, “From Hulls to Pods: Why NATO’s Navies Should Beware of the Allure of Mission Modularity,” in the new book in the ISPK SeaPower Series Guardians of the North Atlantic: NATO Maritime Strategies and Naval Operations in Turbulent Times. Dr. Emma Salisbury is … Continue reading Sea Control: 594: From Hulls to Pods with Emma Salisbury →
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Trilateral Shipbuilding: Build a Missile Corvette Fleet with Asian Alliesby Guest Author on 22 January 2026 at 11:00 am
By CDR Chase E. Harding, USN Introduction The balance of power in the Indo-Pacific is shifting rapidly as China’s shipbuilding hegemony endures. With the U.S. shipbuilding base in decline, the United States must take bold action to remain a credible maritime power and uphold the rules-based order that has underpinned peace and prosperity in Asia … Continue reading Trilateral Shipbuilding: Build a Missile Corvette Fleet with Asian Allies →