The War for Muddy Waters

Historically, operations and studies regarding maritime security focus on individual threats (e.g., piracy, terrorism, narcotics) and individual measures to target them (e.g., counterpiracy, counterterrorism, counternarcotics). This book explores, for the first time, an overall strategy for maritime security, integrating these issues into a single framework. Tallis argues that as maritime security threats rise in sophistication, it will be increasingly appealing to apply military resources to counter them. Military tactics, however, may not be the ideal mechanisms for addressing challenges that are often closer to crime than to war. Leveraging the sea services' capabilities without overly militarizing maritime security is a complicated problem that requires a more strategic and partner-oriented approach to the challenge. At stake, in Tallis' estimation, is the war for tomorrow's most important communities, their human security, and the muddy waters on which they and the global system rely.