Freedom of the seas was not a purely altruistic Anglo-American principle. Britain benefited from open peacetime trade, but the same network made blockade a powerful wartime weapon against continental opponents. A state outside the blockade could change suppliers and keep commerce moving across the global system. A state trapped inside it faced much greater difficulty replacing imports or adjusting its economy. Globalization therefore reinforced a traditional British method of economic warfare even while it benefited many countries in peace.
Notable Point · 21:13-22:44
Why global trade strengthened a maritime blockade strategy
A discussion of Chinese carrier policy opens into the strategic self-interest behind freedom of the seas: globalized trade gives a maritime power traffic to protect in peace and to sever in war.