Presenting the Theory of Maritime Civilization, a Criticism of the Sea Power Theory

Today, there is a need for a new approach toward the sea and sea-based sustainable development. Alfred Mahan, by presenting the theory of Sea Power, made the politicians pay special attention to the sea and navigation. Although Sea Power theory includes several positive points, it has been criticized by the researcher. By analyzing the theory of Sea Power through a critical approach, and by carefully examining the literature related to marine power, the researcher, while taking into account the experts' opinions, builds the theory of Maritime Civilization and present it instead of the Sea Power theory. The method of the present research is the content analysis and development of a specific approach, which is mainly due to the way in which the subject of analysis (content) is considered. The results of the study indicated that Sea Power theory has good positive points, however, Alfred Mahan's approach to the sea is an authoritarian and domineering perspective that, firstly, contradicts values and ethics; secondly, the present discussions about sustainable development and the Green Environment criticize the Sea Power theory. Thus, the theory of Maritime Civilization is presented, according to which the maritime civilization is a civilization in which the intellectual, scientific, industrial, social, economic and political movements are created in conjunction with the sea and the marine environment. Using a set of capacities and resources, this civilization seeks to enjoy a sustainable sea exploitation in order to turn the human and the marine community into a peaceful community. This is a preliminary theory, and for assessing its validity, the views of five experts from the Marine Science universities were used, which necessitates further investigation by other researchers in the future.