Draft:Maritime grey-zone conflict
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Maritime grey-zone conflicts are hostile interactions between states at sea that fall below the threshold of formal war. These conflicts rely on strategies exploiting the less stringent enforcement of maritime sovereignty compared to land-based conflict.
Historical instances of maritime grey-zone conflict
[edit]As maritime sovereignty is commonly more loosely enforced than on land, grey-zone interactions between states often take place at sea. Strategies employed here often include coercive tactics and harassment, such as naval shows of force, trade disruptions, and privateering, without escalating to formal war.
The Cod Wars
[edit]The Cod Wars were a series of disputes between Iceland and the United Kingdom over fishing territories from 1958 to 1976, each falling out somewhat favorably for Iceland. Both sides employed increasingly violent methods, resulting in physical collisions between Icelandic fishing trawlers and British warships. Being closer to home ports allowed Iceland to control the media narrative around the conflict.[1]
Gunboat Diplomacy
[edit]Gunboat diplomacy, characterized by limited naval force as a means of coercion for pursuing national interests, is a widely used historical grey-zone tactic. Examples of this include the British employing naval force to coerce China into signing unequal treaties in the latter half of the 19th century,[2] the Perry Expedition of 1853 where American armed vessels pressured Japan into opening to Western trade,[3][4] as well as the Agadir Crisis of 1911 where Germany’s deployment of the SMS Panther sought to pressure France into ceding colonial territories.[5] An example between European states is the Don Pacifico affair wherein the UK used a show of naval force to coerce Greece into compensating the assault of David Pacifico, a British citizen.[6]
Trade Disruption
[edit]Disrupting maritime trade has also been used as a grey-zone tool for applying international pressure at sea. A notable example is Sweden withholding British merchant vessels during the Napoleonic wars under the guise of adhering to Napoleon’s Continental System to avoid international repercussions from France.[7] Similarly, the Royal Navy extorted Dutch fishing boats in the 17th century on the pretext of enforcing ‘licence fees’ to seek rents from profitable Dutch fishing of herring.[1]
Privateering
[edit]Privateering, often including state-sanctioned piracy, has also been used as an instrument in the maritime grey-zone.[8] Giving plausible deniability for the contracting state, this was frequently used to raise revenues for war or carry out attacks without triggering formal war. The maritime Quasi-War fought in the Caribbean between the USA and France from 1798 to 1801 is an example of armed hostilities and skirmishes carried out primarily by privateers and merchant ships, yet without a declaration of formal war.[9] In a European context, the Ottoman Empire also recruited Barbary corsairs as privateers to sustain a military presence in the 16th century Mediterranean.[10][11]
- ^ a b Goldrick, J. (2018). Special Report: Grey-zone Operations and the Maritime Domain. Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
- ^ Wong, J. Y. "The Limits of Naval Power: British Gunboat Diplomacy in China from the Nemesis to the Amethyst, 1839–1949". War & Society. 18 (2) – via Taylor & Francis.
- ^ Jansen, B. "The Opening of Japan". Japan Review. 2.
- ^ Clark, P. H. (2020). The Perry Expedition and the "Opening of Japan to the West," 1853-1873 : A Short History with Documents. Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated. pp. 33–36.
- ^ Röhl, J. C. G. (2014). Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941. Cambridge University Press. pp. 798–800.
- ^ Whitten, D. "The Don Pacifico affair". Historian. 48 (2).
- ^ Voelcker, T. (2008). Admiral Saumarez versus Napoleon - The Baltic, 1807-12. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 128–132.
- ^ Statham, E. P. (2011). Privateers and Privateering. Cambridge University Press. p. 3.
- ^ Hickey, D. R. "The Quasi-War". Journal of Military History. 85 (2): 475–478.
- ^ Chaney, E. "Measuring the military decline of the Western Islamic World: Evidence from Barbary ransoms". Explorations in Economic History. 58.
- ^ Vick, B. "Power, Humanitarianism and the Global Liberal Order: Abolition and the Barbary Corsairs in the Vienna Congress System". The International History Review. 40 (4): 942.