Redactie 22 april 2026

Europe's Maritime Challenges Examined

Publication: European Navies and Global Challenges - Proceedings of the Rotterdam Seapower Symposium, 6-8 april 2026

Editorial

French, Dutch and British units train together during exercise Orion 2026 as part of the Charles de Gaulle Carrier Strike Group (picture: Mediacentrum Defensie)

Introduction

From 6 to 8 April 2025, fourteen international academics and naval professionals gathered at the Rotterdam Seapower Symposium to examine the greatest challenges facing European sea power — from security in the North Sea and the Baltic to transatlantic relations, the Indo-Pacific region, and naval shipbuilding in times of growing threat. The contributions of this symposium have now been compiled in the volume European Navies and Global Challenges. The first copy was recently presented to Brigadier General Ivo Moerman, commander Netherlands Marine Corps.

The 2025 symposium marked the resumption of a Dutch academic tradition in maritime strategic thinking, which had largely faded after the turn of the millennium. The return of major geopolitical turbulence after 2014 — including the Russian annexation of Crimea, the war in Ukraine, the rise of China as a maritime power, and the Houthi threat in the Red Sea — makes a renewed focus on naval discourse urgent. Strategic challenges, contemporary threats, and historical context were to converge from a predominantly European perspective.

Editors Anselm van der Peet and Roy de Ruiter therefore felt it was necessary for the Netherlands, given its maritime status, to organise an international symposium to reestablish the aforementioned tradition in maritime thinking. Strategic challenges, contemporary threats, and historical context were to converge from a predominantly European perspective. The initiative was partly driven by discussions in Marineblad, in which authors advocated greater attention to maritime strategy within the Netherlands and its naval forces.

Overhandiging RSS bundel Commander Netherlands Marine Corps Brigadier General Ivo Moerman receives the first copy from editor dr. Anselm van der Peet (NIMH) during the KVMO Seapower Symposium, wednesday april 14th 2026 (picture: copyright KVMO-Marineblad)

A collective of academics from Spain, Belgium England, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States examined the principal challenges facing European navies. Five panel sessions yielded in-depth insights and a common thread: the irreversibility of the current strategic shift, the necessity of European cooperation and integration, and the urgency of innovation.

The editors hope that this publication will not only stimulate academic debate, but also inspire policymakers, journalists, the business community, and politicians to engage in further discussion on sea power and maritime strategy.

European Navies and Global Challenges is published by the Netherlands Defence Academy, Faculty of Military Sciences (NLDA/FMW) and the Netherlands Institute of Military History (NIMH), with a contribution from the Royal Netherlands Naval Officers Association (KVMO). The digital volume is freely available to download. See below.

International academics and naval professionals at the Rotterdam Seapower Symposium, April 2025

The Commercial Seapower State. A Perspective on Small Naval Power - Daniël Turk
Rogues of the High Seas. From Private Maritime Security Companies to Maritime Security Enablers - Santiago José del Castillo Toquero
Who Owns the Gateways? A Geoeconomic Perspective on Diverse Ownership in Landlord Ports - Merel Jacobs, Tijs ter Haar, and Sara van Hoeymissen
Hybrid Operations in the Baltic Sea Region. Some Observations and Implications for the Maritime Domain - Niklas Granholm
Theatre of Tension. Balancing Deterrence against Conventional and Grey-zone Threats in the Baltic - Julian Pawlak
The Role of European Critical. Maritime Infrastructure in a Hybrid War Scenario - Henrik Schilling
Weathering the Coming Storm. German-American Naval Relations from the Cold War to Zeitenwende and Beyond - Sebastian Bruns
Getting Beyond "The Iron Triangle of Painful (Naval) Trade-Offs" - Sarandis Papadopoulos
The Northern Flank and the Role for the Netherlands - Anne Runhaar
To Be or not to Be in the Indo-Pacific. Dealing with the Strategic Challenges for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the Indo-Pacific - Roy de Ruiter
Balancing Theatres: the Royal Navy, the Euro-Atlantic, and the Indo-Pacific - Emma Salisbury
Navigating Complexity. Marine Engineering Insights into Europe's Energy Infrastructure for Shipbuilding Resilience - Evelien Scheffers
A Whole-of-Government Approach regarding Dutch Naval Shipbuilding. Back to the 1970s-1980s? - Anselm van der Peet