ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the notion that navies fulfil three general purposes or roles that can be broadly categorised as military, diplomatic and constabulary. It focuses on military roles but one cannot understand what navies are or what navies do without reference to their peacetime activities, which includes their diplomatic and constabulary roles. The chapter explores the challenges that exist in the maintenance of good order at sea. It examines the different ways in which navies and other maritime agencies are employed in support of maritime security. Equally relevant is the fact that globalisation has enhanced the importance of the sea as the primary medium for international trade. The trafficking of illegal narcotics is an activity that spreads crime, corruption and misery along its entire journey from source to final destination. Environmental issues have risen in prominence, with a growing awareness that environmental degradation threatens the well-being of individuals, of states and of the planet itself.
