Introduction

Abstract

The introduction considers two nexuses between seapower and the South Atlantic small navies. First, it considers the shaping effect of US seapower in the region and the possibility of its decline due to US isolationism, or other countries’ rebalancing in the South Atlantic by conducting sponsorship and hedging strategies. Second, it provides an assessment of the implications in the South Atlantic of the changing character of seapower in the twenty-first century, particularly the growing strategic relevance of small navies and coastguards.