ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the governance of the oceans viewed from a naval perspective, the emphasis being on sea-power's contribution to good order and stability at sea. The precise roles and functions of sea-power—of navies—evolve over time in response to changes to the maritime strategic environment. Operationally, navies are instruments for the application of sea-power in three distinct ways, each of which provides a means of categorising naval tasks: military application, constabulary application, and benign application. In the later decades of the Grotian Era, technology greatly enhanced sea denial capabilities. Both mines and submarines became notable means of denying large sea areas to opposing surface naval forces. Sea control requirements aside, in the period since the end of the Cold War, the major Western navies have focused a great deal of their attention on the provision of support to military forces operating onshore as part of a joint campaign.
