Book Review - The New Age of Naval Power in the Indo-Pacific

Edited by Catherine Grant, Alessio Patalano and James Russell

Georgetown University Press, 2023, 360 pp

Hardcover ISBN: 9781647123383

Paperback ISBN: 9781647123390

Ebook ISBN: 9781647123406

Reviewed by: Dongkeun Lee

We are currently witnessing the age of naval power, where the competition between the United States (US) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) primarily unfolds at sea. Notable areas of potential conflict, such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, underscore the critical role of naval power in shaping geopolitical dynamics. The recent Houthi insurgent attacks in the Red Sea further highlight that maritime conflicts may not be peaceful. Within the international rules-based order, safeguarding key norms like the freedom of navigation (now under threat) is critical, and so understanding the intricacies of Indo-Pacific security becomes crucial to this order.

Catherine L Grant, Alessio Patalano and James A Russell’s edited collection The New Age of Naval Power in the Indo-Pacific, provides a comprehensive framework of ‘five factors of influence’ to help explain the complexity of the Indo-Pacific’s maritime security. These factors are the capacity to control sea lanes, deploy nuclear deterrence at sea, implement the law of the sea advantageously, control marine resources, and exhibit technological innovation.^[1] These capacities are directly tied to the functions of naval power and are instrumental in negotiating order and stability in the Indo-Pacific.^[2]

The book meticulously examines these factors in 14 chapters, each contributed by different authors, harnessing a wealth of expertise. It is divided into three parts, the first of which delves into the factors of influence. Chapter 2 explores the relevance of maritime geography and strategic competition between the US and China, emphasising how maritime geopolitics shapes the national interests of these superpowers.^[3] Chapter 3 evaluates the advantageous utilisation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) by the Indo-Pacific states, notably China. It also highlights the relevance of the PRC’s growing naval power to the extension of the maritime legal conflict.^[4] Chapter 4 examines the marine resource dimension of Indo-Pacific security, incorporating natural resources and maritime spaces for trade.^[5] Chapter 5 analyses the strategic relevance of nuclear deterrence within the Indo-Pacific region, emphasising the unique role of nuclear navies in maritime geography.^[6] Chapter 6 investigates the impacts of technological innovations on naval power in the Indo-Pacific, underlining the political dynamics associated with acquiring new weapons. Its author, James A Russell, argues that understanding the intentions behind the acquisition of new weapons by key countries is crucial to prevent future wars.^[7]

Part II evaluates the historical applications of the five factors of influence. Chapter 7 explores early imperial competition in the Indian Ocean, focusing on the control of sea lanes and technological innovations.^[8] Chapter 8 reviews Alfred Thayer Mahan’s book The Problem of Asia and its relevance to the successful Anglo-Japanese alliance. This chapter claims that maritime geography was one of the key determining factors shaping strategic interests, and it assesses the Anglo-Japanese alliance as having constituted successful naval diplomacy that facilitated further commercial access to Asia by Britain and Japan.^[9] Chapter 9 investigates the history of East Asia between the First and Second World Wars, highlighting the role of naval power in shaping the international order.^[10] Chapter 10 explains the Cold War rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union at sea, providing a foundational understanding of contemporary conflicts. Uniquely, this chapter also evaluates in detail issues related to international law and marine resources.^[11] Considering that these two factors have now become key drivers of competition in the Indo-Pacific, Chapter 10’s analysis could be regarded as examining a foundation for the contemporary conflict in the region.

Part III analyses the application of the five factors of influence in the contemporary Indo-Pacific. Chapter 11 examines bilateral maritime conflicts among major players, such as China–South Korea, South Korea–Japan, Russia–Japan, and North Korea–South Korea.^[12] Chapter 12 delves into the conflicts in the East and South China Seas, where the current international rules-based order is heavily challenged. This chapter examines ‘grey-zone’ activities undertaken by Indo-Pacific states that use naval power in the East and South China Seas within the UNCLOS framework to achieve military advantage.^[13] Chapter 13 evaluates the Taiwan Strait from a naval power perspective, arguing that the PRC’s enhanced navy is changing the balance of power between China and Taiwan. The author of this chapter, Sheryn Lee, further contends that the forceful unification of Taiwan by China would grant Beijing a favourable environment in which to exert naval power in an effort to deny opponents’ freedom of navigation.^[14] Chapter 14 argues for a nuanced approach to China’s presence in the South Pacific in response to the direct threat of climate change. Its author, Rear Admiral James Goldrick (Retd), considers that naval cooperation by the US and its partners with the PRC is both desirable and possible in the South Pacific. In the context of climate action, patrol craft rather than battle groups will be a key element of naval power in the region.^[15]

The question is then: what lessons can the Australian Army take from this book? First of all, the Army needs to understand that its capabilities can also be part of the five factors of influence, along with naval power. For instance, the Army has already played a significant role through accompanying deployments of the Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD). As part of the Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE), LHDs are annually deployed to the Indo-Pacific region, including to the contested regions of the South China Sea. In this way, the IPE serves Australia’s national interests by reinforcing the international rules-based order among the Indo-Pacific countries that respect UNCLOS.^[16] Specifically, exercising Australian military capabilities within contested regions like the South China Sea underscores the role of UNCLOS in enabling nation states to exert naval power far from their own shores.

Besides IPE, the Australian Army plays a significant role as part of humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) missions, especially in the South Pacific region. As Goldrick has argued, the South Pacific is facing climate change as one of its key threats, and non-combatant units can play a significant role as influencers.^[17] Considering that the South Pacific is Australia’s neighbour, the role of influencer is critical to it. The role of naval power as an influencer of technological innovation that can fuel a naval arms race is also emphasised in the book. It is inevitable that the increased presence of Canberra-class LHDs within the South Pacific may be perceived as a threat to other countries with strategic interests in the region, especially China. To counter such perceptions, Australia must clearly demonstrate its commitment to delivering HADR within the South Pacific by being an active participant in international relief efforts.

About the Reviewer 

Dongkeun Lee is a PhD candidate at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, and a reservist officer of the Republic of Korea Navy. Dongkeun’s main research interest is maritime security and geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region. By investigating the strategy and role of the navies in the region, Dongkeun hopes to increase understanding of the current and future maritime security and geopolitical environment in the Indo-Pacific. His recent works include ‘The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force: Dream of a Blue Water Navy’, in Handbook of Japanese Security, edited by Leszek Buszynski.

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