ABSTRACT
One may well argue whether Russia fulfi lls the criteria of a sea power. According to Alfred Thayer Mahan, natural factors more than politics furthered “maritime thinking.” First of all, the geography of a coastal state would prompt a government to have a “maritime-political understanding” which in turn aff ected its foreign, security, and economic policy. To Mahan, sea power built on a “national character” saw the priority of its economic interests in overseas trade (including colonies). That, in turn, would require a sizable own merchant navy which in turn needed protection by naval forces which, for their part, required bases abroad.
