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

Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans, by James Stavridis. New York: Penguin, 2017. 384 pages. $28.

Admiral James Stavridis's maritime opus, Sea Power, is a tour de force that ranges across the global commons of the world's vast sea-lanes and both near-littoral and distant shores. With four decades of distinguished maritime service in the U.S. Navy, the admiral (now retired) is uniquely qualified to evaluate current geopolitical maritime realities. Stavridis brings that strategic perspective to his historical contextualization of how and why oceans have impacted seafaring and landlocked civilizations and nation-states differentially.

Stavridis is a prolific author, having first been published, early in his naval officer career, in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. As someone who has embodied that institution's motto to "dare to write, think, and speak to advance the understanding of sea power," he now fittingly serves as chair of the institute. As he does in that role, in Sea Power Stavridis continues to lead and...