ABSTRACT
Its very name stresses context: Mediterranean, the sea among lands. In terms of international security policy and strategy in this maritime region, this volume has tried to demonstrate that seapower has a variety of contexts, whether considered in the past, in the present, or in the future. These contexts have changed over time, although many of the contemporary issues that observers emphasize today are themes that have a long history of their own. Many of these same present and future issues have supplied the context for past events in the Mediterranean, but their importance has sometimes gone unnoticed in maritime history, as the maritime side of affairs has sometimes gone unnoticed within the common discussion of other specialized themes. As several contributors to this volume have suggested, it may be our understanding and our interpretations that must be stretched to include both sides of these issues, if we are to understand fully the varied contexts and impacts of events at sea. This poses the need to widen the ‘mental horizon’ of those who examine and discuss such issues.
