The New Maritime Strategy -- A Chance for Greater Relevance?

The U.S. Navy, unarguably the most lethal navy in the world, has been struggling to find its place in the Global War on Terrorism. Overshadowed by the immense presence of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force within Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Navy has been placed primarily in a supporting role. In an effort to maintain its relevance, the U.S. Navy has embarked on a new course via the recently published "Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower." The development of the new strategy relied heavily on the opinions of sources outside the usual sea service cultural boundaries. The outcome was a strategy that placed the soft power of "global cooperation" on par with the vaunted hard power naval pillars of Power Projection and Nuclear Deterrence. The new strategy still includes hard power requirements, but the inclusion of soft power and its rise from a "merely nice thing to do if possible" to a strategic tool make the new maritime strategy quite unique from the past. The factors that influenced the development of the new strategy, the challenges that face its implementation, and examples and recommendations for its future application are the subjects of this monograph.