Naval policy is national strategy

Mahan quotes the French officer Darrieus to argue that no plan for fleet constitution is sound if it ignores a great power's foreign relations or material limits. He then endorses the demand for national strategy and national tactics rather than separate military and political worlds. Mahan explicitly repudiates his own earlier view that political questions belonged to statesmen rather than military professionals. His reversal brings sea power, national resources, diplomacy, and force design into one strategic problem. Political relations help determine the fleet's composition and size, so Mahan includes them among the naval strategist's professional concerns.