21st Century Foundations

Alfred Thayer Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power upon History is well known to students of naval history and strategy, but his other writings are often overlooked when considering today's challenges. This collection of eight of Mahan's essays, along with Benjamin Armstrong's informative introductions and analysis, illustrates why Mahan's work remains relevant in the 21st century and how that work can help develop our strategic understanding. People misunderstand Mahan, Armstrong reveals, because they have only read what others have to say about him, rather than what Mahan actually wrote. From the challenges of bureaucracy and staff duty, the development of global strategy and fleet composition, and effective leadership included in the first edition, this second edition adds discussions of the United States' place in the world, the difficulties of naval readiness, and the organization needed for construction of an effective national and naval strategy. With these added essays from Mahan, and a new preface and conclusion analyzing his work from Armstrong, this book demonstrates that Mahan's ideas about the importance of sea power continue to provide today's readers with a necessary foundation to address the military and international challenges of the 21st century.

This book uses the 21st Century Foundations series format to re-introduce to the military community the writings of General Thomas S. Power, the third Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Air Command (SAC). His unappreciated works contain many insights into military topics such as technology and the arms race, the nature of deterrence, and the military utility of space. Unifying all of these writings was Power's quest to maintain nuclear superiority over the Soviet Union. Although Power is considered a quintessential Cold Warrior, his ideas are timely considering today's challenges of re-energizing the morale and technology of U.S. strategic forces in the wake of foreign advances, discerning what deterrence means in the "Second Nuclear Age," and planning the future of space and cyber power.

The Decline of European Naval Forces aims to provide insight into the evolution of Europe's naval forces since the end of the Cold War. To illuminate the drastic changes many European navies have undergone over the last twenty-five years, Jeremy Stöhs analyzes the defense policies and naval strategies of eleven European states as well as the evolution, deployment, and capabilities of their respective naval forces. In these case studies, the development of Europe's most important naval forces is assessed per the respective strategic framework in which they have operated over the past two decades. Stöhs describes not only the general composition of each force but also the range of their capabilities and their important technical features. His study shows that since the end of the Cold War, all but a few European navies have significantly decreased in size and, thus, have ceded important capabilities along the way. Based on the understanding of sea power as a prerequisite for political influence and economic health, the consequences of the geopolitical shift toward the Asian-Pacific region, and most importantly the general decline of Europe's traditional naval capabilities, the author concludes that the ability of European states to influence events near and abroad by means of their naval forces has atrophied and will continue to be called into question in the future