Center for International Maritime SecurityOpinion

“With the Shield, or On It?”: Aspides and the EU Aspirations for Sea Control

After two years at sea, will the EU return with its shield in hand, or be carried back upon it? The evidence suggests the ...
Center for International Maritime Security

Desert Storm Made the PLA. What is the Iran War Making?

The PLA absorbed this lesson from Mahan and filtered it through the lens of Desert Storm’s demonstration of American power ...
Center for International Maritime SecurityOpinion

Defending Global Order Against China’s Maritime Insurgency – Part 2

How has China’s behavior in the region evolved over the past few years of encountering resistance from the Philippines and ...
Center for International Maritime Security

Hedge with Non-Kinetic Defense

Examples of hedge capabilities in his C‑Note include special operations forces to counter terrorism, ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs) for nuclear deterrence, and the “Hellscape” concept to defeat ...
Center for International Maritime Security

Asymmetry Rising: How Autonomous Systems Enforce Sea Denial

Today, autonomous systems allow navies that cannot compete ship-for-ship to impose risk at sea at a fraction of the cost. Concepts resembling Project Seawarden illustrate how sea denial can be ...
Center for International Maritime Security

Russia’s Irregular Maritime Statecraft in the Baltic Sea

Since 2022, Russia has sharply increased its employment of illegal/coercive/aggressive/deceptive (ICAD) maritime tactics in ...
Center for International Maritime Security

The Unwitting Fleet

Adversaries do not need to build dedicated collection strategies when the commercial fleet functions as a distributed sensor network accessible to anyone with the technical capability and intent. The ...
Center for International Maritime Security

The United States Can’t Deter China Without Allied Shipyards

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 ...
Center for International Maritime Security

Archers Need Arrows: Deficiencies in U.S. Submarine Munitions

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 ...
Center for International Maritime Security

Washington’s Misplaced Shipbuilding Obsession

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 ...
Center for International Maritime Security

Trilateral Shipbuilding: Build a Missile Corvette Fleet with Asian Allies

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 ...
Center for International Maritime Security

The Arctic is a Strategic Distraction

Over the past five years, numerous articles have called for increased U.S. defense resources focused on the Arctic. This is a strategic mistake, a distraction. This article will outline the reasons ...