Valdai Club

The nature of sea power is rapidly evolving as the existing balance of power between major powers at sea is becoming increasingly challenged by a multitude of geopolitical and technological developments. From a surge in Chinese naval capabilities to the rise of new advanced weapon systems, the maritime theater is seeing radical change that has traditional naval powers on the backfoot and strategists rethinking the foundations of the sea power concept.

The political antagonisms of the modern world have reached a degree that is indeed alarming. No less destabilizing than the lowered pain threshold that used to guard against the use of force or wars between the states – is the visible imbalance between the advancing technological warfare capabilities and the lack of practical experience in using these technologies.

Replacing or upgrading the deteriorating strategic arms stability treaties at a time of intense global competition, and with the involvement of an additional actor in the form of China, makes for a much more complex challenge than the one presented when most of these treaties were signed during the late Cold War.