Working Papers: Medium Power Strategy Revisited

Abstract

Maritime Strategy for Medium Powers was published by Richard Hill in 1986 and this paper, written 15 years later, re-examines whether the theories of medium-power maritime strategy survived intact or need to be modified.

Based on the critical assumption that the nation state is and will remain the principal unit of account in the world’s strategic dealings, and using the definition of power as the ability to influence events via either economic or military leverage, Hill concludes that medium power strategy is fundamentally interest based. Medium powers ought to be able to define vital areas of interest, assess likely threats and construct forces that robustly contest the maritime elements for long enough to protect those interests. A strategy of self-reliance, based upon the vital interests of the state and using to the full concepts of levels of conflict and of reach in the planning of its forces, is still the most appropriate for a medium power such as Australia.

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