Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Post

Maritime security is national security. From the South China Sea to the Red Sea, from the Black Sea to the Arctic, we are seeing increasing challenges to freedom of navigation and contested logistics – as well as increasing risks to mariners, merchants and sea service members. A more accessible Arctic region comes with promise and peril requiring greater understanding, collaboration and action aligned with the U.S. Tri-Service Maritime Strategy. The Arctic is one of six tracks to be explored during the Maritime Risk Symposium, June 11-13 at NPS. Sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board, the Arctic panel includes leaders from the USCG, Marine Exchange Alaska, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Alaska Region, and TOTE Maritime Alaska who will examine current and emerging Arctic maritime threats. They will discuss how the sea services and maritime industry can best collaborate to mitigate risks associated with conducting operations in a dynamic and pristine Arctic. • Preview the 2024 Maritime Risk Symposium: https://lnkd.in/eD6JAMPT • More about the Maritime Risk Symposium Arctic track: https://lnkd.in/gXY3Qzkx • Check out recent NPS Arctic Research during Operation Ice Camp:  https://lnkd.in/ghSNcqAt US Navy | United States Marine Corps | Office of the Secretary of the Navy | U.S. Coast Guard | The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine | Maritime Reporter and Engineering News #MaritimeSecurity #NationalSecurity

The Artic and its possibility to influence sea lanes is very interesting. Geography influences long term policy and cannot be erased completely by technology. In the case of the Artic geography is changing.

NEW SPECIAL COLLECTION: Arctic Transformation: Continuity and Change in Strategic Environments! The collection is guest edited by Jeppe Strandsbjerg and Rasmus Dahlberg and aims at nuancing the debate on Arctic security through single case studies and comparative studies. For people working – academically, politically or practically – with Arctic security issues, it has become a common belief, and reference point for discussions, that the Arctic security environment is rapidly changing. But are things really changing THAT much in the Arctic? Back in 2023, they encouraged authors to investigate the extent to which strategic thinking is indeed changing as well as the character and geographical variation of these (alleged) changes. The articles in the collection ask: Do Arctic actors perceive conditions and challenges as changing, justifying larger claims to rapid security transformations? Or do involved actors rather experience continuity in everyday military strategic planning and policy making etc.? Contributions from Matti Puranen, Sanna Kopra, Mathieu Landriault, Gabrielle LaFortune, Jeppe Strandsbjerg, Rasmus Dahlberg and Sara Olsvig (link in comment).  

How have - and must - our European concepts of sea power evolve in our post-Imperial reality? The product of a conference held at Trinity House, this primer - edited by Dr Matt Heaslip - discusses Europe's evolving maritime strategies, underscoring the renewed importance of sea power. It brings together a number of perspectives from scholars and practitioners across the full spectrum of maritime studies. As states confront modern challenges like geopolitical tensions, climate change, and shifting trade dynamics, collaborative naval - and wider maritime - frameworks emerge as vital. This shift blends traditional approaches with innovative blue-economy initiatives, positioning European nations to safeguard sovereignty while advancing sustainable ocean stewardship. The discussion invites deeper reflection on how maritime capabilities anchor resilience and regional influence in an interconnected world.

🇷🇺 🇨🇳 What is the future & implications of increased cooperation between Russia and the People's Republic of China in the Arctic? 🔗 Read a series of papers by GMF experts investigating their growing alignment. https://bit.ly/4c5dwum

MULRONEY PAPERS IN PUBLIC POLICY AND GOVERNANCE Beyond "Use It or Lose It": Arctic Sovereignty, Security, and Canada's Northern Strategy Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper Co-Authors: - Dr. Whitney Lackenbauer, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in the study of the Canadian North and Professor in the School for the study of Canada at Trent University. - Dr. Adam Lajeunesse, Research Chair in Arctic and Maritime Security at the Mulroney Institute and the Director of the Canadian Maritime Security Network. Most academic discussion about Canada’s approach to Arctic defence and security during the Harper era tends to fixate on the “use it or lose it” discourse circa 2006–8. This paper examines the evolution of official understandings of Arctic defence and security, and, in turn, how the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces framed government messaging in strategic policy directives. It also examines the Harper government’s understandings of Arctic sovereignty in the context of Canada’s Arctic maritime position and extended continental shelf boundaries. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3LKYmjg #MulroneyInstitute

🇷🇺 🇨🇳 What is the future & implications of increased cooperation between Russia and the People's Republic of China in the Arctic? 🔗 Read a series of papers by GMF experts investigating their growing alignment. https://bit.ly/4c5dwum

June 5, Congressman Gabe Amo (RI-01) spoke about the recent groundbreaking for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Operations Center-Atlantic at Naval Station Newport, a critical initiative to solidify Rhode Island’s leadership in the blue economy, at a House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Environment budget hearing titled “An Overview of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2025” featuring the NOAA Administrator, Dr. Rick Spinrad. As part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda and thanks to the leadership of U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, the design and construction of the facility is funded in part by the largest-ever investment in climate, the Inflation Reduction Act. In addition to discussing the new facility, Congressman Amo also questioned Dr. Spinrad on strengthening NOAA’s cooperation efforts to protect the North Atlantic right whale through the federal rulemaking process. 📖 https://bit.ly/3x5tPJj #environmentallaw #environmentallawyer #desautelbrowninglaw #rhodeisland #newengland

This morning, War on the Rocks published my article "Something Borrowed, Something Blue," looking at the integration of American maritime power and statecraft. The oceanic world has been coming into sharper focus in recent months, but mostly we've been talking about "why" American maritime strategy, policy, and power matter. But "how" do we get to a more effective strategy and policy? I have some thoughts, based on the historical ideas of a century ago described by Alfred Thayer Mahan in one of his less well known pieces of writing and thinking: https://lnkd.in/eWQstieC