This would seem a good area for inquiry as the United States enters the Quadrennial Defense Review season. Cable ends with some lessons and speculations. These are, unfortunately, not sharply focused. As he admits, it is hard to discern any real patterns from his historical survey, and even if any exist, the stockbroker s warning that future results cannot be predicted from past performance applies. At best, if anything approaching a principle emerges from the confused record of the past it may be that the natural political environment for navies, their raison d tre , is the unforeseen. . . .
Warships allow choice, naval force is a flexible instrument.
The book is a good short summary of the political uses of naval force, both intended and unintended, over the past fifty years. However, it is of limited value in helping today s defense analysts and policy makers think through the requirements for tomorrow s naval forces.