The Diplomat  |  Author

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
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July 12, 2013

America Needs an Enemy in the Arctic

The Obama administration’s Arctic strategy assumes there will be tranquility. That’s wishful thinking.

July 11, 2013

China’s New Naval Theorist

Beijing’s efforts to impose a new normal on the South China Sea are more Selden than Zheng He or Grotius.

July 09, 2013

Don’t Worry About China’s String of Pearls….Yet

China may have strategic designs in the Indian Ocean but bringing them to fruition will be tough.

July 05, 2013

The Military Needs a War on Jargon

“Plainspoken language conveys meaning; convoluted or vague language can disguise it.”

July 05, 2013

Can America Build “Coalitions of the Willing?”

Joe Nye has outlined a cogent view of the future. Now we need a roadmap to get there.

July 01, 2013

Top 5 Lessons From The Battle of Gettysburg: 150 Years On

The clash “was about far more than repulsing a Confederate invasion of the North.”

June 28, 2013

The Real Source of American Power: Its Rivers

Control of the high seas is important; control of internal rivers is imperative.

June 26, 2013

Nathanael Greene: The American Insurgent

One hopes there are unorthodox leaders like Greene in the military today.

June 25, 2013

A Machiavellian Age of Sea Power

The U.S. Navy is being asked to do the unprecedented while having a weak hand.

June 21, 2013

China’s Naval Strategy: Mahanian Ends Through Maoist Means

The Naval Diplomat reviews how his 2010 book on China’s naval rise has stood the test of time.

June 19, 2013

How Chinese Strategists Think

Commentators err in reducing US-China competition to economic and military numbers. Competition is a human enterprise.

June 17, 2013

Grand Strategy and the Art of the Possible

Grand Strategists take note: it’s easy but not altogether useful to propose impossible remedies.

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