sea power, especially in terms of the regional balance of power? Are rivalries,
crises, or conflicts among the Asian maritime powers more likely as a result of
perceived or real imbalances in the relative correlation of naval forces? If so, what
can be done to dampen the competitive effects produced by the proximity of
increasingly powerful navies to one another? These are some of the key questions
addressed by the contributors to this volume.
It is our contention that a more holistic analysis of Asian sea power, something
missing for the past decade, is long overdue. The paucity of scholarly writings
related to Asian maritime affairs is startling in view of the region’s strongly
nautical character. The need to fill this gap in the literature is gaining in urgency,
moreover, as naval buildups in the region gather speed. Appreciating the oceanic
dimensions of Asian politics from the perspectives of geography, history,
commerce, and military power is critical.Geography and History
Even a cursory glance at the map reveals the intensely maritime nature of Asian
geography. The Japanese home islands, the Korean Peninsula (essentially a half
island), Taiwan, the Philippines, and the Indonesian archipelago envelop the
entire East Asian landmass. Though a small nation, Japan boasts one of the
longest coastlines in the world. Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim
population, is also the largest archipelago on earth, encompassing more than
sixteen thousand islands. The South Asian subcontinent is one massive peninsula
jutting out into the sea. All major citiesin East, Southeast, and South Asia are
coastal metropolises. According to a report by the Center for Naval Analyses,
40 percent of the four billion people residing in Asia are located within forty-
five miles (seventy kilometers) of the coast.^2 An expert on coastal populations
claims that 60 percent of Asia’s nearly four billion people live within four hundred
kilometers of the ocean coast. Of these, approximately one-and-a-half billion,
representing roughly a quarter of mankind, live within one hundred kilometers
of the sea.^3 These demographic figures are striking by any measure.
Major historical events in Asia have originated at sea. Some of them have
helped Asian leaders mold national myths that continue to grip the imaginations
of coastal citizens. In the thirteenth century, for instance, Mongol attempts to
invade Japan were thwarted in large part by seasonal typhoons, inspiring the
now-infamous notion of the kamikaze, or divine wind. Around the same time,
Indian Muslim traders began a gradual process of religious conversion through-
out Southeast Asia. Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s naval victories against the Japanese
during Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s failed attempt to conquer theKoreanPeninsula
(1592–98) remain widely celebrated in South Korea.
Chinese historiography too incorporates a brief period of maritime glory and
heroism. In 1405, Admiral Zheng He set off on the first of seven major naval2 Asia Looks Seaward