The War for Muddy Waters: Pirates, Terrorists, Traffickers, and Maritime Insecurity

The Institute of World Politics

About the Book: Historically, operations and studies regarding maritime security focus on individual threats (e.g., piracy, terrorism, narcotics, etc.) and individual measures to target them (e.g., counter-piracy, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics). This book explores, for the first time, an overall strategy for maritime security, integrating these issues into a single framework. Tallis argues that as maritime security threats rise in sophistication, it will be increasingly appealing to apply military resources to counter them. Military tactics, however, may not be the ideal mechanisms for addressing challenges that are often closer to crime than they are to war. Leveraging the sea services’ capabilities, without overly militarizing maritime security, is a complicated problem set that requires a more strategic and partner-oriented approach to the challenge. At stake, in Tallis’ estimation, is the war for tomorrow’s most important communities, their human security, and the muddy waters on which they and the global system rely. About the Author: Dr. Tallis is a research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center where he specializes in maritime security, naval strategy, and foreign policy. His project management experience includes directing cross-disciplinary teams building novel research designs to address unstructured strategic and operational questions. He has also conducted independent field research, including embarking USS Harry S. Truman during the U.S. Navy’s first Arctic carrier deployment in nearly 30 years as civilian analyst and adviser to the strike group commander. Tallis holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of St Andrews, where he researched theories of littoral security that resulted in the book, The War for Muddy Waters: Pirates, Terrorists, Traffickers, and Maritime Insecurity (Naval Institute Press, 2019).