Sea Control by Other Means: Norwegian Coast Guard Operations Under International Maritime Law

Abstract

This article examines the development and peacetime activities of the Norwegian Coast Guard through the lens of sea control. It argues that the creation of economic and fisheries protection zones has dramatically shaped the extent to which a smaller naval power, like Norway, has had to increase its ability to monitor and control maritime space. Although the maritime means and ends vary widely between peacetime and wartime contexts, the fundamentally contested aspect of sea use can still be discerned in the influence of international maritime law on Norwegian seapower.