Navy has now lost its assured command of the seas - for the first time in the post-World War II era - to China in the Western Pacific. No one could challenge America’s ability to bring together, in that distant sea, the power of those who shared America’s values.įor the collective good of all nations, American command of the earth’s oceans has also provided the bedrock for a globalized economy where 80 percent of the volume and 70 percent of the value of all trade transits safely on the sea. When I arrived in the Arabian Sea as commander of an aircraft carrier battle group to begin its carrier strikes against Afghanistan, waiting there to become part of our American battle group was an international armada: Japan was alongside Germany, with nations from Canada to Australia crossing the Atlantic and Pacific. It would also secure America’s greatest power: its power to convene - to bring like-minded nations of the world together for common causes that have served America’s democratic ideals. This would enable the military guarantee of security, political, and economic interests whenever needed, while denying the seas to others when necessary. Command of the seas meant that the Navy’s mastery of the oceans would assure access almost anywhere for American sovereign power. Navy’s primary raison d’ ê tre became command of those seas in support of U.S. No country owns the “great commons” of the seas, but when America assumed international leadership after World War II, the U.S. For the reformer has enemies … and only lukewarm defenders.” “There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success … than to initiate a new order of things.
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