The Army's Interest in Seapower

According to the eminent military historian Jeremy Black, "The rise of European states to a position of power across the oceans and around much of the globe was the military/ political change that most deserves the description of a military revolution." Starting at the end of the 15th century, when the Portuguese sailed around Africa into the Indian Ocean, maritime mobility allowed a number of states to create empires, commercial networks and spheres of influence that dominated world politics. This capability has been further refined by the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The drafting of a new Quadrennial Defense Review often pits the armed services against each other …