Economic Warfare and the Sea

Economic Warfare and the Sea examines the relationshipbetween trade, maritime warfare, and strategic thought between the early modernperiod and the late-twentieth century. Featuring contributions from renownhistorians and rising scholars, this volume forwards an international perspectiveupon the intersection of maritime history, strategy, and diplomacy. Core themesinclude the role of ‘economic warfare’ in maritime strategic thought, prevalenceof economic competition below the threshold of open conflict, and the rolenon-state actors have played in the prosecution of economic warfare.

Usingunique material from 18 different archives across six countries, this volume explorescritical moments in the development of economic warfare, naval technology, andinternational law, including the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the French Revolutionary andNapoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War. Distinct chapters also analyse the roleof economic warfare in theories of maritime strategy, and what the future holdsfor the changing role of navies in the floating global economy of thetwenty-first century.