To rule the waves: Why a maritime geostrategy is needed to sustain European Union

Abstract:

In this paper of the Grand Strategy Project series, it is argued that Europeans must begin to focus more on maritime geostrategy. While the Chinese, Indian, Russian and South Korean navies continued to grow in size and power in 2010, Europeans had become increasingly ‘sea blind’. In order to remedy this problem, they had to look back on history and realise that economic and social success was grounded in maritime strength—and that the European Union’s prosperity would depend just as much on sea power in the twenty-first century. They could aggregate the Member States’ maritime assets — particularly overseas naval stations — under the European Union’s umbrella to project a ‘forward presence’ and protect key trade lines and zones of critical interest to the European economy.

Archive of European Integration: Egmont Paper No.33, October 2009 http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11832

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