Sea power can encompass military and non-military capabilities including:
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maritime industries
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shipbuilding
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fishing fleets
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marine insurance.
States seek sea power for three broad reasons:
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to protect seaborne trade
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to secure marine resources
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force projection
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strategic deterrence.
Strategists and historians have developed different definitions of sea power, with different emphases. But most theorists refer to two foundational figures: Alfred Thayer Mahan and Julian Corbett. Both wrote their main works at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. Scholars still debate their interpretations and influence.
As an island nation, the sea is Australia’s lifeblood. Our national anthem reminds us that ‘our home is girt by sea’. We are dependent upon the sea. Our trade travels by sea, and thus our economy, our prosperity and our way of life count on the sea. Good order at sea is vital to our nation’s economic and environmental welfare and vital to our national security.
