How a Historian Started an Arms Race | A.T. Mahan and #TeamSeas

Go to and help us remove plastic from the seas I bet most of you have never heard of Alfred Thayer Mahan, but he revolutionized naval strategy, not just for the US, but the entire world. In fact, his 1890 book set off an arms race to create the most powerful battleships that only ended with a World War. All that was to control the waters for the sake of commerce. And today, I join a whole bunch of YouTubers who want to draw attention to a new crisis in our international waters, and while it certainly won’t have as catastrophic of implications as the arms race, this has permanent global effects. Plastics pollute our waters, and we want to do something about that. So go to team seas dot org, which is linked in the description, where you can contribute to removing plastic from the oceans. ------------------------------------------------------------ See pinned comment and its replies for notes, responses, and errata *Bibliography* Alfred T. Mahan, The Influence of Sea