Review: Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans

A weekend leisure reading review…because sometimes Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!

James G. Stavridis.  Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans. New York, NY: The Penguin Press, June 5th 2018. 384 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

This is a wonderful and highly informative book on geopolitics.  The author James G. Stavridis is an accomplished US Naval Admiral and among his many accomplishment was being the Supreme Allied Commander for NATO towards the end of his career.  His perspective is quite insightful and I would say unique!  He’s not only looking at this in light of analysis and history but also shares his personal “sea stories” that makes this book all the more interesting.

One of the reason why I like this book is that often when I think of geo-political realities I think in terms of land.  But this book looks at it from the perspective of seas and the ocean.  The book covers the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian and Artic Ocean with their history and current political and economic reality and relationship between states concerning those body of waters.  The book also explore other seas such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Arabian Gulf.

I enjoyed the discussion of the history of naval warfare in the book.  I learned a lot from this book.  I also enjoyed the discussion about how the Atlantic Ocean had a lot of blood spilled in the past but now is generally peaceful overall.  This in contrast with the Pacific today which originally is named Pacific for unintended irony.  Of course the book discusses a lot of geopolitical realities in light of present US involvement whether militarily, politically and economically.  One learn a lot of the perspective of the US Navy and policy makers in this book.  For instance I never knew the US 5^th Fleet is the biggest in Bahrain.  It was interesting to hear of the author’s personal recommendation as well.  It might be more interventionists than some people might like it but still it is important to consider the rationale and perspective of those that see the use of US military as a means to bring regional stability and also to bring about good.  There’s a lot of interesting perspective that goes beyond newsbytes.  I was challenged with the author’s point about when we look at Asia we often miss India and in the future we must consider India more as a regional friend in light of its growing presence in Asia.  Sadly other countries sometimes eclipse India in US relationship and outlook in Asia.  Readers will also benefit from the author’s historical insight.  I thought the discussion about the history of European colonization of the Caribbean was illuminating of why there was a shift of using black slaves as opposed to white indentured servants.  It turn out that Europeans were vulnerable to yellow fever but those from Africa were less vulnerable so the choice of a workforce of Africa was preferred; this sadly brought with it a troubled legacy for European colonialism and the Slave Trade.  The book also looks to the future.  I thought the author made a good point about the danger of overfishing presently and also rogue states not abiding with current international laws.  Also future laws and enforcement might still be needed.

The book is fascinating in so many ways.  I recommend it.