1、 B A C K G R O U N D E RCenter for Strategicand BudgetaryAssessmentsT h i n k i n g S m a r t e rA b o u t D e f e n s e1730 Rhode Island Ave.,NWSuite 912,Washington,DC 20036www.csbaonline.orgTel.202-331-7990Fax 202-331-8019March 26,2008 A COOPERATIVE STRATEGY FOR 21ST CENTURY SEAPOWER:AN ASSESSMENT
2、 By:Robert O.Work&Jan van Tol INTRODUCTION Since the end of the Cold War,the US Navy,US Marine Corps,and US Coast Guard have been in search of a new maritime strategya new naval Holy Grail.1 The first grail,revealed in 1890 in the form of Alfred Thayer Mahans The Influence of Seapower on History,gui
3、ded the Sea Services through the end of the Second World War.2 Mahans views on sea control and his emphasis on a concentrated battle fleet were genetically encoded into generations of officers during two decades of wargaming at the Naval War College between the two world wars.3 Soon after World War
4、II,however,the grail was lost during a turbulent period when America faced no real maritime challenger.Decades later,after the Vietnam War ended,and with the Soviet Navy on the rise,the grail was re-discovered in the form of the simply titled Maritime Strategy.4 This strategy polished up the offensi