ABSTRACT
But in fact most traditional maritime strategists are much more pragmatic about what command of the sea is and what it provides. Broadly, it is no more than a means to an end. Corbett put it like this:
It never has been and never can be, the end in itself. Yet, obvious as this is, it is constantly lost sight of in naval policy. We forget what really happened in the old wars: we blind ourselves by looking only on the dramatic moments of naval history; we come unconsciously to assume that the defeat of the enemy’s fleets solves all problems.1
