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James R. Holmes

James R. Holmes is a defense analyst for The Diplomat and a professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College where he specializes in U.S., Chinese and Indian maritime strategy and U.S. diplomatic and military history.

He is co-author of Red Star over the Pacific, an Atlantic Monthly Best Foreign Affairs Book for 2010 and a former US Navy surface warfare officer.

The views voiced here are his alone.

Posts by James R. Holmes
June 20, 2016

Defeating China's Fortress Fleet and A2/AD Strategy: Lessons for the United States and Her Allies

By James R. Holmes
China's built a fortress fleet to operationalize its A2/AD ambitions. How can the U.S. and her allies counter this?

May 23, 2016

What the US Can Learn From Its Own History About a Naval Logistics Agreement With India

By James R. Holmes
How would the United States have seen LEMOA 69 years out from its independence?
January 10, 2015

Cumulative Warfare: War by Statistics

By James R. Holmes
The Naval Diplomat reflects on the cumulative/sequential dichotomy of understanding warfare.

January 07, 2015

When Is a Strategy Not a Strategy?

By James R. Holmes
The Naval Diplomat revisits the history of the framing of the 2007 U.S. Maritime Strategy.

December 30, 2014

Taiwan's New Stealth Corvettes: Just What the Doctor Ordered?

By James R. Holmes
Taiwan's got a new tool in its sea-denial toolkit.

December 25, 2014

Securing Santa: Forging a US Arctic Strategy

By James R. Holmes
What should be the factors informing U.S. strategy in the Arctic Ocean?
December 20, 2014

Maritime Southeast Asia: A Game of Go?

By James R. Holmes
How much does the ancient game of Go, or weiqi, reveal about Chinese military strategy?

December 19, 2014

Here's the Thing About Battlecruisers...

By James R. Holmes
The battlecruiser experiment illustrates the perils of constructing a ship to fight one way and then using it to fight another.

December 13, 2014

Lasers! What Are They Good For?

By James R. Holmes
Lasers won't solve all the problems facing naval weaponeers, but they'll help address quite a few of them.

December 11, 2014

Strategy Is a Habit

By James R. Holmes
In training a new generation of strategists, its best worth recalling Aristotle's sage advice: strategy is a habit.

December 06, 2014

Land-Based Coastal Defense Is No Joke

By James R. Holmes
Let's not rush to mock Hagel for citing the War of 1812 as a precedent for contemporary strategy. He has a point.
December 03, 2014

Style, Warfare and George Washington

By James R. Holmes
There's reason to be grateful that the outcomes of wars aren't determined by committee.

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