Introduction

Change in maritime affairs sometimes occurs at a leisurely pace. Sometimes, the pace of change is accelerated—technological and geopolitical trends emerge and combine rapidly to transform maritime affairs. Military and political trends in the Western Pacific and beyond suggest that the world is encountering a pivotal moment when existing weapons, tactics, and operations might be rendered obsolete by techno-strategic change. This volume considers these developments from three perspectives by describing the techno-strategic setting, the institutional constraints that impede the ability of the U.S. Navy to respond to these changes and a new “bimodal” approach to naval force planning and strategy to address the 21st-century maritime setting.