It has been a rare helter-skelter summer at the Holmes compound somewhere along the shores of the Narragansett Bay. Road trip to State College, Pennsylvania, and onward to Pittsburgh—via one of America’s incomparable architectural marvels—to give a talk about China and maritime strategy. Short-notice invitation to write and deliver a lecture series on sea-power theory at the Naval War College in Goa, India. (Not in person for that one, sadly.) Summer seminar for rising scholars on the China challenge, convened by the Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research here on campus.

And this busy stretch was worth every bit of the time and effort that went into it. The opportunity to interact with smart, knowledgeable, impassioned folk always is.

Exhibit A: During the Q&A following one lecture in Goa, I got into a pleasant exchange with an Indian Navy student regarding the future trajectory of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy) fleet. The lecture explored Geoffrey Till’s writings, in particular his indispensable handbook on Seapower. Geoff makes “readiness” one referendum on a navy’s fitness for its duties, alongside such parameters as its missions and geographic scope, the number, type, and characteristics of platforms and armaments that comprise its material panoply, and the quality of the naval professionals who make up the service.

When I came to readiness I made an offhand comment that China’s navy is a youthful force, that elements of it will soon start growing old, and that this could bode........

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