Maritime Strategies for the XXI Century: The Con-tribution of Admiral Castex

摘要

It is a matter of interest when an author is willing to break out some of the older volumes on maritime strategy and reexamine them in the light of current concerns, attempting to determine whether some nugget of interest has been passed over inadvertently. Lars Wedin's Maritime Strategies for the XXI Century: The Contribution of Admiral Castex is such a work. Wedin examines the writings of French admiral Raoul Castex (1878-1968) for their applicability in creating maritime strategies for the present millennium. This is not an easy task. Castex was a voluminous writer throughout his naval career, authoring five books on strategic theory; two additional volumes of collected articles were compiled posthumously. As a naval officer serving on escort ships during the First World War, Castex had the practical experience of observing what actually worked-above and beyond what any academician might propose. Following that conflict, Castex appreciated the opportunities that technological advances in aircraft and submarines might provide to the future naval commander. Given his lengthy naval career, wartime experience, and attentiveness to technological improvements, Castex should have been a worthy successor to previous naval strategists such as Mahan and Corbett.