By Admiral Massimo Vianello, Italian Navy (Ret.) and Master Chief Petty Officer Giovanni Giorguli, Italian Navy (Ret.) Introduction Throughout naval history, few weapons have demonstrated the strategi...

By Meng Kit Tang A Myth Before the Launch In June 2026, the chairman of Taiwan's China Shipbuilding Corporation's (CSBC), announced that  the Hai Kun submarine was "on track" for delivery in 2026, but...

By Hervé Auffret Ships can deter a competitor, compel a rival, and escort a convoy. What they cannot do is build the institutions, relationships, information systems, and rules that keep maritime orde...

Stories Due: November 10, 2026 Week Dates: December 7-11, 2026 Story Length: 1,500-3,000 Words Submit to: Content@cimsec.org By Brian Kerg In annual tradition, CIMSEC will be featuring a series of sho...

by Tatum Delaney The countdown ticks forward, each second marching the Arctic ice closer to its liquid form. Some see opportunity in what will be left behind: new sea lanes, access to resources, and expanded commercial activity. Others see danger in a region where governance structures and territorial claims are outpaced by national ambitions. Is…

Tom Marrotta, CEO of The Spaceport Company, joins the program to talk about the use of mobile offshore platforms for launching rockets, and the future of space access. Tom Marotta is CEO of The Spac...

By James J. Wirtz No one disagrees that the Navy has not had much luck constructing warships this century. It also continues to face significant challenges when building the next small surface combata...

By Adam Lockyer Between June 24 to July 31, Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026 took place on and around the Hawaiian Islands. RIMPAC is the world’s largest international exercise. In this, its 30th iteration, RIMPAC boasted 25,000 personnel, 40 surface ships, 5 submarines, and 140 aircraft. Beyond the impressive headlines, however, RIMPAC has…

By Ebunoluwa George Ojo-Ami and Dr. Ian Ralby The recent discovery of covert methamphetamine laboratories in southwestern Nigeria should not be viewed simply as another successful drug raid. Instead, ...

By Josh Richards and Joseph Hanacek The Elemental Weapon When China threatens to close its fist, the world listens. In August 2025, Li Chenggang, Beijing’s chief trade negotiator, didn’t bother with e...

Dr. Siekiera is an international lawyer, a NATO consultant, and an Adjunct Professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, HI. She is also a non-resident fellow at Marine Corps ...

By Jonathan Robinson Introduction In January 1974, in the tail end of the Vietnam War, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Republic of Vietnam Navy briefly clashed over control of the Paracel...

By Burhan Adam In December 2025, a journalist asked President Donald Trump whether the United States would recognize Somaliland, as Israel had just done. He answered with a single word: “No.” Then, as...

By Eric Lies The United States Navy has set a course that will see it morph into an army on the sea. The differentiating factors between the sea services and its landbound compatriots are fast eroding...

By Dr. John P. Cordle, Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired) Introduction There is an episode of Star Trek (S1:E2) that has always chilled me to the bone, called “Armageddon”. The premise is that wars are too ...

By Eleanor Gaudion and Michael Posey American maritime strategy in the South China Sea often starts by counting ships. Planners must keep enough hulls forward to contest Beijing’s constant pressure an...

By Joseph Hanacek and Josh Richards Recent events in the Strait of Hormuz offer a timely reminder that economic warfare at sea rarely resembles the clean, declared naval cordons of the past. Blocking ...

By Dr. Abdek Mahamoud Abdi Introduction Following American and Israeli strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader on 28 February 2026, Iran's naval forces have frequently declared the Strait of Hormuz ...

By Frank Bell Introduction Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb occupy positions of strategic importance disproportionate to their size. Situated near the Strait of Hormuz, the three islands provid...

Author David A. Smith joins Jonathan on the podcast to discuss his new book Mahan: The Life of Maritime Strategy's Greatest Revolutionary.

By Christopher Rice Space-based technology empowers American leadership—economic, cultural, and military.  Further, as Part I of this essay noted, the nation’s rivals have made significant investments...

Help support Center for International Maritime Security, Inc by donating or sharing with your friends.

By Christopher Rice As the 2025 National Security Strategy notes, commercial and military space capabilities are one of the United States’ greatest geopolitical advantages.1  The nation’s civil, comme...

By LT Connor Keating, U.S. Navy During World War II, General Quarters (GQ) was essential to U.S. Navy ship survivability. Setting GQ established the highest material condition—Zebra—throughout the shi...

By Lieutenant Colonel Pete Combe, USMC The goal of this article is to articulate one past commander’s approach to discipline, with a focus on improving operational readiness.  The author does not mean...

By Bruce Stubbs I. Introduction The United States should designate the U.S. Coast Guard as its lead agency for maritime security in the Western Hemisphere. In military command and control terminology,...

By Joseph Hanacek and Josh Richards Building the Airborne Asymmetry In the predawn hours of June 1, 2025, a revolution in warfighting unfolded across Russia’s western airfields. Nearly 3,000 miles fro...

By Meng Kit Tang Markets Close Before Missiles Fire Tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf fell from 138 transits to fewer than eight within days of insurers withdrawing war-risk coverage in 2026. No ship...

By John Babick The Pentagon's artificial intelligence strategy documents promise decision advantage at scale. Defense contractors pitch predictive logistics and machine-speed targeting. The narrative ...

By Dr. David Soud and Dr. Ian Ralby Law enforcement officials are accustomed to interdicting shipments of precursor chemicals used in drug production. The chemicals used for illegal fishing, however, ...

This article was originally published at The Cove, the Australian Army’s professional military education platform, and is republished with permission. By Benjamin Gray Clarity of purpose is a combat m...

By Jake Brantley As great power competition expands into new domains and climate change alters global geography, the Arctic and Antarctica have become central pieces of the national security conversat...

By Dr. John P. Cordle, Captain, USN (Ret). The first week of June 2026 marked a seminal event in the history of sleep and fatigue in the military. The Department of War (DOW) Fatigue Related Managemen...

By Crispinus Lee and Joe Schwartzstein Guam is the westernmost territory of the United States in the Pacific region. The Congressional Research Service notes that Guam is closer to Beijing than Hawaii...

By Captains Al Collins and Kevin Eyer Now…and Then Recent naval operations in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz have demonstrated that the United States Navy remains extraordinarily capable in comb...

By Bruce B. Stubbs The Problem Every year the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) submits a posture statement to Congress. It is the Navy’s principal annual self-assessment, the one document in which the ...

By Catherine Marie Abbott Introduction It is widely documented that Russia has leveraged various threat vectors to employ coercive and ancillary irregular tactics against allied nations, including the...

By Morgan Bazilian and Jahara Matisek Just as oil fueled the mechanized warfare of the 20th century, electricity is becoming the foundational resource for militaries of the 21st century. Echoing First...

By Dmitry Filipoff In the last two weeks, CIMSEC featured writing submitted to our Call for Articles on maritime conflict with Iran.  Authors covered a wide range of topics, including strategic differ...

By Josh Richards and Joseph Hanacek A Cause Worth Losing For Foreign policy debates are often framed around a single question: what causes are worth fighting for? Far less often do strategists ask the...

Iran War Topic Week By Commander Ronald E. Swart, United States Navy (Retired) and Scott C. Truver, PhD President Donald J. Trump on March 9, 2026 declared that the United States “will not allow Iran’...

Iran War Topic Week By Alexander Lott, Kristjan Tabri, and Angela Sooba Introduction Reportedly, approximately 20,000 seafarers on board some 2,000 ships, including tankers, bulk carriers, cargo ships...

Iran War Topic Week By Ludovico Domini Introduction The 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis exposes the inadequacy of some classical geopolitical frameworks. Alfred Thayer Mahan's sea power, centered on blue...

Iran War Topic Week By Paul Viscovich, CDR, USN (Ret.) After four months into the conflict, Iran is defiantly refusing to capitulate. This “four week war” now threatens to become another drawn-out con...

Iran War Topic Week By Rear Adm. Roberto Domini, Italian Navy, (Ret.) Introduction The Strait of Hormuz is arguably the most consequential chokepoint in the global economy. Barely thirty kilometers wi...

Iran War Topic Week By Ehud Eiran The joint military campaign launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, 2026, was initially conceived and executed primarily as an air campa...

Jonathan interviews scholar Andrew Blackley about his new book Wielding the Trident: Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and America’s Victory in the Pacific. The two discuss Spruance’s career and his contrib...

Iran War Topic Week By Rustam Taghizade The Strategic Paradox When the Trump administration granted India a 30-day waiver on March 5 to purchase Russian oil, the formal justification was straightforwa...

Iran War Topic Week By Bruce Randolph Tizes Most analysis of the U.S.-Iran maritime war will focus on carrier strike group positioning, IRGC small-boat tactics, Marine Corps Stand-in Forces, and the o...