Seeking Common Features of Maritime Struggles that Shaped Control of the Waters surrounding Eurasia over a Thousand Years.

This book ambitiously spans nearly a thousand years of history, describing conflicts from the central Mediterranean to the shores of Japan. Its case studies are highly diverse, ranging from struggles for control of key trade routes to large amphibious invasions. Across each of these case studies, the author boldly aims to characterize common features of maritime struggles that shaped control of the waters surrounding Eurasia. These case studies are bracketed by an introduction describing theories of maritime power and law, as well as a concluding chapter that highlights overall themes and their implications in the context of current affairs. The author’s final remarks show how the maritime aims of today’s Eurasian powers—including China, India, and Turkey—often echo those of earlier eras, and national leaders sometimes explicitly invoke those comparisons.

Inevitably, some of the case studies are better than others; the author seems to be most in his element in East Asia. Rhode describes the Mongols’ maritime limitations by vividly characterizing their naval defeats from the coast of Japan to the rivers of Vietnam. The book also ably conveys the importance of China’s fifteenth-century voyages going as far as East Africa and the Red Sea, Japan’s failed invasion of Korea in the 1590s, and Chinese forces’ conquest of Taiwan from the Netherlands in 1662. The author’s coverage of South Asia is not quite as good, though in one case, describing an eleventh-century South Asian state expanding its power as far as modern-day Indonesia—there are inherent limits in terms of historical sources. On the other hand, there was thoughtful coverage of some of the tactics used by South Asian powers and the Ottomans to counter European navies in the Indian Ocean.

One of the points that most resonated with this reviewer was the extent to which maritime focus and national military identity could be mutually reinforcing. For example, Portugal’s pursuit of sea power partly reflected its maritime commercial identity and its inability to compete within Europe, given its small size. By contrast, the Mongols, rulers of the world’s largest contiguous land empire, did not strive to develop a major naval capability during the century that they dominated Eurasia: their seafaring interest was limited to occasional attempts to employ the naval capabilities of conquered nations.

Overall, the book provides a thoughtful set of insights, describing diverse struggles for key waters and links among seemingly disparate areas. At a time when Eurasian waters are roiling with tensions, Great Power Clashes along the Maritime Silk Road provides historical perspectives that can help to understand and address regional issues.

Our Reviewer: Dr. Scott Savitz is a defense researcher in the Washington, DC area. He earned his doctorate and a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Yale University. aA senior engineer at the RAND Corporation. He has led research on such diverse subjects as employment of unmanned maritime vehicles, the impact of non-lethal weapons, addressing threats from naval mines, testing of autonomous systems, gaps in Arctic military capabilities, how to make airbases less vulnerable, and many other topics. He is the author of The Fall of the Republic, a fictionalized account of the Catiline Conspiracy in ancient Rome. His previous reviews include Machiavelli's Legacy: The Prince After Five Hundred Years, The Machiavellian Enterprise: A Commentary on The Prince, and Machiavelli's Three Romes.

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Note: Great Power Clashes along the Maritime Silk Road is also available in e-editions.

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