Centre for Seapower and Strategy (CSS)

Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in the issues of strategy and maritime security but far too little attention has been paid to the combination of the two issues. And yet there are clear and critical points of intersection. The impact of security issues on the maritime economy is emerging dramatically. A structured method to understand the risks and vulnerabilities but also to offer an applicable road map towards maintaining a sustainable security and strategy within the maritime industry is required.

In recent years, the discipline of strategic studies has evolved from the discrete study of interstate war to the myriad dynamics of conflict between human beings in a highly interdependent world. In addition, globalisation has brought many disruptive challenges closer to home: global pandemics; climate change; mass migration; transnational organised crime; transnational terrorism; the ‘hybrid warfare’ of state actors; and cyber attacks. The only way to understand the waves of disruption in our industries is through a multi-disciplinary effort. The only way to achieve resilience in practice is through a multi-agency effort and the synthesis of hitherto separate professional competencies.

The University of Plymouth's Centre for Seapower and Strategy (CSS) – formerly the Dartmouth Centre for Seapower and Strategy (DCSS) – was established to meet the clear and growing need to raise knowledge, awareness and understanding of strategic and security issues as they relate to maritime affairs and the use of seapower in the 21st century.