China's launch of the ex-Soviet carrier Varyag is no exception. The adoption of new and symbolic military technology by rising powers produces inevitable strategic ripples. The Imperial Japanese Navy not only matched the United States Navy for total displacement by 1940, but a year later it also launched the Yamato, a battleship of unprecedented size and firepower. A decade later, Japan launched the world's first purpose-built aircraft carrier, the Hôshô, from a dockyard in Yokohama. Britain, sensing the Royal Navy's supremacy was coming under threat, quickly stitched up alliances with Russia, France, and Japan. From 1898 to 1912, Germany's five Naval Laws saw it establish a fleet of battleships intended to secure the country's 'place in the sun'. The seas have always had a special pull on strategy. By Ashley Townshend and Shashank Joshi for
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