Post date: Oct 16, 2012 11:30:11 AM
A. T. Mahan (1890: 25) introduced the term “common” into military context:
The first and most obvious light in which the sea presents itself from the political and social point of view is that of a great highway; or better, perhaps, of a wide common, over which men may pass in all directions, but on which some well-worn paths show that controlling reasons have led them to choose certain lines of travel rather than others. These lines of travel are called trade routes; and the reasons which have determined them are to be sought in the history of the world.
Barry Posen (2003: 8) follows Mahan:
The U.S. military currently possesses command of the global commons. Command of the commons is analogous to command of the sea, or in Paul Kennedy’s words, it is analogous to “naval mastery.” The “commons,” in the case of the sea and space, are areas that belong to no one state and that provide access to much of the globe.
[fn. 11: Alfred Thayer Mahan called the sea “a wide common.”]
Abraham Denmark & James Mulvenon (2010: 11) define the “global commons” as following:
There are four major global commons: maritime, air, space and cyberspace. Each commons is fundamentally different from the others. However, this report examines them together as a global commons because they share four broad characteristics:
1. They are not owned or controlled by any single entity.
2. Their utility as a whole is greater than if broken down into smaller parts.
3. States and non-state actors with the requisite technological capabilities are able to access and use them for economic, political, scientific and cultural purposes.
4. States and non-state actors with the requisite technological capabilities are able to use them as a medium for military movement and as a theater for military conflict.
REFERENCES
- Denmark, Abraham M., and James Mulvenon. 2010 “Contested Commons: the Future of American Power in a Multipolar World,” in Abraham M. Denmark and James Mulvenon (eds.) Contested Commons: the Future of American Power in a Multipolar World,Washington, D.C.: Center for a New American Security: 5-47.
- Mahan, A. T. 1890 Influence of sea power upon history: 1660-1783, London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co.
- Posen, Barry R. 2003 “Command of the Commons: The Military Foundation of U.S. Hegemony”, International Security 28(1): 5-46.