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In an age of uncertainties influenced by information technologies and the networking of societies, the maritime domain remains the main global lane of communication, vital for trade and security.

The European Union has become a maritime actor, carrying out counter-piracy and maritime capacity-building operations and actively dealing with maritime safety, fisheries protection, port security, maritime surveillance and counter-immigration at sea.

The Union´s policies, mechanisms and activities related to the maritime domain are now backed by a Maritime Security Strategy, adopted by the Council in June 2014.

This cutting edge book accounts for the trends in maritime strategy and seapower politics as well as the recent developments in the field, both at the conceptual and practical level. It discusses the significance of the maritime domain for European security in general and for the EU in particular.

Readers are provided with the necessary tools to critically assess the EU´s potential as a global maritime actor and evaluate why Europe´s prosperity and security rests on its capacity to shape events at sea.

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List of Tables and Figures Foreword Glossary Introduction 1. Seapower and International Relations 2. The (Critical) Geopolitics of Seapower 3. Naval Forces as Vectors of Seapower 4. Beyond National Security - Maritime Power and Forces Projection 5. Maritime Security and Safety - Securing, Policing and Protecting the Seas 6. The Elements of the EU´s Seapower 7. The Naval and Maritime Dimension of the EU 8. The EU´s Geopolitical Discourse 9. The EU´s Maritime Frontier: The Concept 10. The EU´s Maritime Frontier: The Practice Conclusion: The Future of the EU´s Seapower: Cruising the Seven Seas? Bibliography Index

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´Germond´s exploration of the maritime dimension of European security is based on a sophisticated historical and geo-strategic understanding of the importance of seapower, and of the security needs and obligations of the EU. This is an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the often-neglected realities of global seapower in the 21st century.´

Anne Deighton, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK

´This is an important and ground breaking analysis of a neglected but significant subject. The author skilfully combines a theoretical with an empirical approach, making the volume a major contribution to the study of maritime security in general, as well as the security policy of the European Union. This really is a landmark work that puts Dr Germond in the forefront of contemporary maritime security analysts.´

Professor Eric Grove, Naval Historian and Maritime Strategist, UK

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Dr Basil Germond is Lecturer at the University of Lancaster, UK. He teaches Foreign Policy and International Relations Theories. Previously he was Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews and Visiting Research Fellow with the Oxford-Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War, University of Oxford, UK. Basil is an expert in naval affairs and maritime security and has widely published on the maritime dimension of European security.

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