Relevance of Mahanian Theory in the Nuclear Age.

摘要

It is generally accepted that Alfred Thayer Mahan was the first prominent historian to articulate the role of sea power as a basis for national policy. Less accepted, however, is Mahan's relevance today in light of the vast technological changes which have clearly modified the employment of seapower since he conducted his review of seventeenth and eighteenth century military-- and especially, British naval history. The most elegant statement of Mahan's continued relevance in the face of such far reaching developments as nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and missile and space technology is that sea power as an element of national power has not disappeared in the nuclear age as many predicted. Moreover, it has remained such an important element that a new sea power emerged in the form of the Soviet Union.