To Rule the Waves

How Control of the World's Oceans Determines the Fate of the Superpowers

By: Bruce Jones

Narrated by: Jacques Roy

From a brilliant Brookings Institution expert, an “important” (The Wall Street Journal) and “penetrating historical and political study” (Nature) of the critical role that oceans play in the daily struggle for global power, in the bestselling tradition of Robert Kaplan’s The Revenge of Geography.

For centuries, oceans were the chessboard on which empires battled for supremacy. But in the nuclear age, air power and missile systems dominated our worries about security, and for the United States, the economy was largely driven by domestic production, with trucking and railways that crisscrossed the continent serving as the primary modes of commercial transit.

All that has changed, as nine-tenths of global commerce and the bulk of energy trade is today linked to sea-based flows. A brightly painted forty-foot steel shipping container loaded in Asia with twenty tons of goods may arrive literally anywhere else in the world; how that really happens and who actually profits from it show that the struggle for power on the seas is a critical issue today.

Now, in vivid, closely observed prose, Bruce D. Jones conducts us on a fascinating voyage through the great modern ports and naval bases—from the vast container ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai to the vital naval base of the American Seventh Fleet in Hawaii to the sophisticated security arrangements in the Port of New York. Along the way, the book illustrates how global commerce works, that we are amidst a global naval arms race, and why the oceans are so crucial to America’s standing going forward.

As Jones reveals, the three great geopolitical struggles of our time—for military power, for economic dominance, and over our changing climate—are playing out atop, within, and below the world’s oceans. The essential question, he shows, is this: who will rule the waves and set the terms of the world to come?

Eye opener of how the seas impact today

Not manh people know exactly how the world's oceans play an impact on our everyday lives. From geopolitics, to commerce, to environment impacts, our oceans are a key part. This book really does and excellent job highlighting all the important factors governing it and what effects could happen. Highly recommend.

Extraordinarily fascinating

One of the most informative books I’ve experienced in the over 60 years I’ve been reading

Went off the rails

Very interesting analysis of global shipping/commerce. Tended toward the wonky, which is a plus if you’re looking to gather knowledge.

Author went off the rails when he revealed his bias by blaming everything on global warming. Should have stuck with commerce and military data.

Truly Exceptional

Naval officer here. This book was recommended to me by a colleague. To be candid, I did not expect to learn very much that I did not already know, but that wasn't the case at all. This is a phenomenally well-researched, well-reported and nuanced story that I cannot recommend highly enough.

One minor quibble: There were a few minor factual errors that I found puzzling. E.g., 'Challenger' was not the first Space Shuttle, and the year mentioned in the discussion of the 'Glomar Explorer' was the time Pinochet came to power, not when he was 'ousted.' Those errors do not diminish from the overall worthiness of this book.

Interesting Theory

I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book. The last third got a little too involved in the scientific aspect of the author’s theory. It does a very good job of briefly covering a variety of topics.