Join us next week for our 1-year anniversary. BYOC.
It’s been one year since we started CIMSEC as an experiment in empowering maritime security collaboration and discussion (alright, after I stared it as a. During this time we’ve published over 250 articles and posts on the NextWar blog and have grown to over 100 members. Our articles and authors have been re-run, cited, or quoted in media from the Sunday Times of London to the Somaliland Sun (ironically a pirated article on Somali piracy).
As an organization of volunteers we’ve relied on the uncompensated hard work and efforts of many individuals, and have received help, publicity, and endorsements from many other good people and our partner sites (at right). We’re also thankful for you, our members and readers, who by your commentary, words of encouragement, and visits to the site have spurred us on to continue our endeavor. Not all of our undertakings have succeeded, and our project ideas are often bigger than our free-time allows – but we’ll keep striving to improve in Year 2 to improve our forum for connecting with others and developing ideas for maritime security.
On Tuesday we’ll celebrate at Old Dominion Brewhouse in Washington, DC – 1219 9th St NW – from 5 to 8pm (Convention Center/Mt. Vernon Square stop on the Green/Yellow Lines). Feel free to drop for an informal discussion of our April Analysis Week and a chance to share a few beers with fellow maritime folk.
Constitution goes out to sea in Boston Harbor, August, 2012
2012 was a great year for us here at CIMSEC. As a new organization it was technically both our best and worst year. But not all posts and articles are created equally. So here are our top pieces of 2012 as determined by you, our readers, based on the number of times the articles were accessed:
As the title suggests, the article explores the various factors that led to the precipitous fall in piracy off the Horn of Africa.Humorously, the article was pirated and reprinted without attribution by an online Somali newspaper, The Somaliland Sun.
This piece envisions a hypothetical future-war scenario, based on current tech trends and capabilities, using naval drones and cyber attack to achieve tactical surprise against the dastardly nation of Orangelandia. We got a re-tweet from Pete W. Singer, author of Wired for War, which I am now making my way through.
Written by our esteemed colleague and contributor in Poland, Przemek Krajewski, this post covered the historic role and future of Poland’s Navy, and received a good deal of attention from industry analysts and those curious about the state and pace of Polish naval modernization.
One of the many top-10 articles from our popular International Maritime Satire Week (4 come from that week). When the choice is between hard-hitting analysis and satire, the people have clearly spoken. Good thing we don’t rely on ad revenues!
LT Chris Peters had the honor of taking the conn when the USS Constitution went underway under sail in Boston Harbor this summer for only the second time in 131 years. Here he describes an experience aboard Old Ironsides he’ll never forget.
There will be no Sequestration, at least for another two months, but if it does come to cuts, here’s how the Navy will pay the bills…in the world of satire.
From our partners at the Atlantic Council of Canada comes an examination of the vulnerability of economic chokepoints to maritime terrorism. Sadly not part of International Maritime Satire Week.
This article ponders a world in which Sailors are not only told what not to do, but in which ‘speed traps’ are laid to catch the unwary. Pure satire, right?
Far and away the most popular article of the past year was the fictional preview of the upcoming season of “Deadliest Catch.” Bonus: Check out the comments section to see what one of the producers of the show, Todd Stanley, thought of the piece.
At our July DC Meet-Up, we took an informal poll of what country the brilliant minds (in their own minds) of CIMSEC should focus on for a week of analysis. We also asked what threat, technology, or platform should go in for similar treatment. The nominees are as follows, and we’re giving you, our readers, the chance to vote on your choice. Voting will end on Saturday, August 18th:
I recently returned from leave and some thistle-pulling and sagebrush clearing a family reunion and realized that the month of June has already ended. It’s surprising how fast the summer has arrived and equally surprising that in a week or so, CIMSEC and the NextWar Blog will have been active for three months. With the selection of a leadership team and our continued growth, I’m writing all of you in my new capacity as President to talk about where we have been and where we may dare go.
First, I have a running tab of gratitude to settle. To the established centers of thought who have encouraged us to strike out and begin writing, especially the teams at Information Dissemination and the US Naval Institute, thank you. Thanks specifically to LT Rob McFall, LCDR BJ Armstrong, Galrahn, Sam LaGrone, CDR Salamander,Peter Munson and CDR Chris Rawley for your advice, hyperlinks and shameless plugs. Thank you to our members, readers, authors, and all of the other interested parties who have lent their time and their minds to growing a new organization. There have been too many acts, both large and small, to name here. I hope that everyone who has posted on NextWar or on our facebook page realizes the significance they are having while at the tiller. Thank you for keeping the ship steady. Most of all, however, thanks is due to our Founding Director and current Vice President, Scott Cheney-Peters (anyone wish to second my motion to name him “Fearless Leader”?), whose vision and leadership have created an important new space in the discourse on securing the seas.
We have a lot to be proud of in the nearly three months we have been active. Under Scott’s leadership, CIMSEC has expanded from a ragtag band of junior officers into an organization with many dozens of members ranging from E-5 to O-8 in the U.S. military and countless other affiliations in government, industry, and think-tanks. We are most proud of the international facet of our identity; the lack of international dialogue on maritime security is a gap we sought to fill early-on as we contemplated our role in the defense blog ecosystem. We have members from countries all over the world, including Poland, Japan, the Philippines, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and Canada. Many of these international members are or will be active authors. We can learn much from each other. We’ve also sought to prove that a web platform can help give voice to less well-known authors. NextWar blog posts have been cited by many prominent defense blogs and websites as well as the Navy’s CHINFO Clips – so we have reason to keep our shoulder to the wheel. Our writing has also attracted partnerships with prestigious and diverse organizations such as the Atlantic Council of Canada, the Naval Institute, and TheRiskyShift.com – and we look forward to additional partnerships in the future. Finally, one friend of ours said in an email that CIMSEC is the realization of a maritime variant of Small Wars Journal. This humbling compliment is, to me, more of an admonition to continue what we’ve started and a worthy aspiration which I hope we can, in time, fulfill.
As with any new organization, the most exciting opportunities lie ahead. We need your help in the following areas to further grow and mature:
Branding. Successful websites have a strong visual brand, and we aspire to present an appearance commensurate with our writing. I’m pleased to announce the “CIMSEC Logo Contest.” Anyone interested in fashioning CIMSEC’s new logo can submit art to me by 15 July. Images should be high resolution and fit in a rectangular shape (a ratio of 1:2.5 height/width). We are also looking for a “Favicon” which will appear in the URL line in most internet browsers, which should fit in a square (1:1 ratio). I will treat the winner of each category to liquid refreshment at our next meet-up. Thanks to Armando Heredia for stepping up to manage our online presence – you can contact him if you have more technical questions.
Membership. Though we have grown significantly in membership and readership, increasing both will remain a priority. Each of you has a role to play in growing our base. Email links, tweet, “like” us on Facebook and use good ‘ol fashioned word of mouth to introduce us to new people. Again, we are proud of our International character, and are specifically seeking international members, readers, and contributors. LCDR A.J. Kruppa is directing our membership efforts – please contact him for more information.
Publications. Our strategy for publication is simple: we will continue to publish the best possible writing on international maritime security. If we quietly pursue excellence, people will cross-post, read, link, like and discuss our products. Contact our Director of Operations and Editor of the NextWar Blog, LTJG Matt Hipple, if you are interested in posting. We are also excited about the NextWar Journal, a longform e-publication that will feature in-depth coverage of international maritime security issues. We are still seeking contributions for our first edition. Contact meif you’re interested in contributing to the journal.
Organization. A personal priority for me will be to legitimize CIMSEC as a legal entity. We seek to incorporate as a non-profit organization in the United States and will pursue appropriate copyright and trademark protections for our work. Though the digital domain is still a wild frontier when it comes to intellectual property, pursuing these goals will allow CIMSEC to become as respected and as durable as our desires and ability allow.
Social Media. We’re in the midst of a rapid expansion beyond our website to other forms of social media. More will follow from our Director of Social Media, Ben Purser, on this subject.
I’m honored to be a part of this organization and excited to see what the next three months bring. Don’t be afraid to get involved – this is your discussion!
LT Kurt Albaugh, USN is President of the Center for International Maritime Security, a Surface Warfare Officer and Instructor in the U.S. Naval Academy’s English Department. The opinions and views expressed in this post are his alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy.
