In this alarming defense of American seapower, Navy insider Seth Cropsey blows the whistle on America's weakening naval might in the twenty-first century. As with other powerful nations throughout history, maritime supremacy has been the key to America's rise to superpower status and the relative peace of the postwar era. Over the past two decades, however, while Washington has been preoccupied with land wars and targeted drone-centric operations, the United States Navy's combat fleet has dwindled to historic lows--the smallest since before World War I. At the same time, rival nations such as China have increased the size of their navies at an extraordinary rate. As Cropsey convincingly argues, the precipitous decline of the U.S. as a great sea power, due in large part to budget cuts, will have profound consequences sooner than we might think.--From publisher description.