Why The World Needs The 1,000 Ship Navy

Pitching American initiatives to global audiences these days is a dicey proposition. Global respect, fear, interest and trust in the US is low and falling ever farther with passing months. Nevertheless, a good idea deserves consideration, and a great idea merits implementation.

Since assuming his role as the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Mike Mullen has talked up a groundbreaking concept known as the 1,000 Ship Navy. Admiral Mullen :

“[The fleet is] a global maritime partnership that unites maritime forces, port operators, commercial shippers, and international, governmental and nongovernmental agencies to address mutual concerns.

 

“Membership in this ‘navy’ is purely voluntary and would have no legal or encumbering ties. It would be a free-form, self-organizing network of maritime partners — good neighbors interested in using the power of the sea to unite, rather than to divide. The barriers for entry are low. Respect for sovereignty is high.”

Obvious benefits include a boost to counter-terrorism, anti-piracy and environmental protection efforts. The idea has caught the interest of allies like Japan, Australia and NATO, even India. Yet tremendous hurdles block the way, as Robert Farley noted last year:

A lot of the countries that would have to cooperate are suspicious of one another, or of the United States. Agreement on basic principles isn’t too hard, but the devil is in the details. In the Mediterranean, for example, North African countries are notably less excited about refugee hunting missions than their European counterparts. The same problem of emphasis exists with drug trafficking and even piracy. Some of the questions dealt with by the network would invariably touch on political concerns. For example, a cooperative naval effort to monitor North Korean trade might not win universal support.

Devising solutions to the challenges noted above and others is certainly a high priority for Admiral Mullen, who is making real progress in introducing American elites to the transcendent promise inherent in the TSN (Thousand Ship Navy). Here then is a humble series of suggestions to selling the concept abroad in foreign staterooms as well as among the local populace and elites.

• How to win China’s support? Certainly, TSN is dead in the water long-term if China can’t be won over.

1. Emphasize the sharing of information, the deferral to regional actors (like in the Malacca Straits and the Mediterranean) and the prospects for boosting the security of shipping for the global economy that China is an ever-larger part of.
2. Take it further and offer China the lead in a majority of TSN patrols and deployments in the South China Sea and elsewhere on China’s periphery.
3. Encourage the Chinese sit down with their neighbors (S. Korea, the Philippines & Japan prominently) on methods to pool resources to secure their common energy, mineral and commodity routes.

• Why do developing countries need TSN? A glaring cry for help: the rape by foreign pirates (Chinese, Korean & European trawlers mostly) of their fishing stocks is a searing double blow to West African nations. Consider Sierra Leone; which is eager to utilize their offshore resources to complement as well as offset agriculture shortfalls in providing subsistence for its people, as well as bring the fish to the global market as a valuable commodity. The theft of millions of dollars from them is a crime that the TSN can help reduce in scope through a variety of ways.

1. Foremost is a generous operational grant (for fuel and supplies) to small navies/coast guards combined with the donation of appropriate mothballed US Navy/Coast Guard vessels.
2. Establish an annual training schedule for US Navy and/or PSC’s to build basic interoperability and deepen relationships.
3. Initiate an exchange program where 1-3 Naval officers and 5-15 NCO’s (depending on host nation force composition) from the USN serve with their counterparts in the small navies for a year or so, immerse in their languages and culture and observe and understand their local challenges and opportunities.
4. Invest in localized firms that offer shipping and other logistics services (perhaps as localized ops for the major int’l conglomerates), helping to set roots in local economies that offer an incentive for businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats not to turn a blind eye to resource exploitation and the toleration of lawless zones.
5. Self-sufficiency is a gradual process that TSN can positively influence, giving developing countries a fair chance they’re not getting now because of the negative effects of black globalization.

• What can developing countries bring to the table? Besides the obvious cooperative benefits of expanded relationships and security contacts for the US, there are other positives in play:

1. At times, the US and others will have to explicitly spell out incentives (i.e. bribes of an “aid” sort, humble nods to national feelings) in maritime neighborhoods with feuding and distrustful occupants.
2. Reducing the tensions between rivals over issues like disputed fishing and drilling rights, environmental waste and territorial patrols by emphasizing cooperation over confrontation through transparent information gathering available to all parties via online databases and publicly (via online streaming video for example) monitored “hot zone” waterways could prevent any number of future conflicts and the ensuing economic and social costs.
3. Local intelligence-gathering on illegal activity like smuggling and piracy saves time and money, encouraging coordinated interdiction and arrest efforts among neighbors and global actors like the US, India & China.

• Why should others bow to American leadership again ?
  1. Actually, TSN can be all about the rightful assertion to regional and increased global leadership of a number of countries; Brazil, India, China, South Africa, along with the independent security partnerships of smaller neighborhoods as in the Straits of Malacca and the Carribean.
  2. The hallmarks of TSN; shared intelligence, verifiable trust and the potential creation of common communications standards, imply a serious measure of independence from America that allows the seas to remain open and free and the American military to move to a quiet, supportive role of nations in much of the world.
  3. In an era where a smaller fleet is largely pre-occupied in 10% of the world’s waterways (Persian Gulf, Horn Of Africa, Sea of Japan/Korea), it is the only reasonable choice for a Navy that has ever more responsibilities with lesser resources.
• Emphasize the increasing dangers for natural and man-made disasters, smuggling, and environmental destruction, highlighting the significant successes of the generally well-coordinated responses thus far. (i.e. we’ve already got a 500-700 ship Navy…)
  1. America and others have been working quite well together for several years in this regard, from the 2004 tsunami relief effort to the Pakistan earthquake response.
  2. Future responses to earthquakes, epidemics, mudslides, flooding and other disasters hinge on expanding these ties.
  3. Successful cooperation positively impacts the bottom line: economic success, political support at home, stability to pursue national goals.

Update: It goes without saying this is a post (indeed, TSN really is as well) inspired by Thomas PM Barnett’s “Sys Admin” concept, which is where the best future of a sustainable maritime security environment, replete with development of developing nation’s coastal economies and the protection of invaluable natural resources lies in.