Global Times portrayed the junction of the USS
Nimitz and
Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike groups as “symbolic” and as having “more political than military meaning.” Strike-group commanders, meanwhile, stressed the maneuvers’ tactical value while soft-pedaling their political import. “Our operations are not a response to any nation or any event,” declared Rear Admiral Jim Kirk, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 11 embarked on board
Nimitz.
Why does it have to be one way or the other? Strategist Edward Luttwak notes that fleet maneuvers serve political purposes alongside their strictly military functions. “Naval suasion,” says Luttwak, means deploying forces to cast a “shadow” across decision-making in foreign capitals. Even a modest deployment can be politically potent if the target audience believes that the combined might of the force casting the shadow stands behind the force actually on the scene. That political leaders would order overb