Rapid technological advances are transforming our way of life and causing disruptions to it, drawing extensive research and policy debate into their legal and ethical implications. The maritime domain is not an exception to this phenomenon. Indeed, there is a rich history of technological innovations that have transformed humanity's relationship with the sea. Nonetheless, these legal and ethical considerations have given far less attention to the impact of technological developments on maritime affairs—a gap that James Kraska and Raul (Pete) Pedrozo, two highly qualified experts on the law of the sea and naval warfare, are ready to fill with their masterly expositions, as presented in this latest book.

Rich in historical perspective, this book traces how technological innovations have transformed the way in which naval operations are conducted and international law subsequently developed to regulate the conduct of hostilities in the maritime domain. This focus is of particular significance to the Asia-Pacific, where major conflicts are, as Kraska and Pedrozo posit, “more likely to occur from the sea than on land territory” (p. 12). International law plays a significant role not only to regulate the conduct of maritime hostilities engaged between great powers, but also as the legal regime governing the relationship between neutral third states and belligerent parties. The latter regime determines the rights and obligations of neutral states and their nationals engaged in shipping business, which Kraska and Pedrozo unravel with historical and contemporary examples and explain how these rules apply to merchant ships, including those turned into maritime militia.

Modern technological developments are also instrument to the introduction of new capabilities that challenge or defy the application of existing rules of international law. For example, what is the legal status of unmanned maritime vessels under the law of the sea? Are they accorded the status of warship or considered as weapons like naval mines? Are they entitled to navigational freedom and, upon capture by foreign entities, to sovereign immunity? Is it lawful to employ autonomous submarines that carry a nuclear warhead designed to detonate at the coastline to generate a tsunami powerful enough to destroy enemy port cities and naval bases? Kraska and Pedrozo expertly address many of these challenging legal questions by carefully navigating relevant legal frameworks and illuminating different legal positions among states.

What distinguishes this book most from other titles in the field is the recognition that modern naval forces must meet legal challenges beyond what arises in the maritime domain alone. Technological advances are disrupting the traditional boundaries of law by creating a dynamic and distributed operational environment, which interconnects the oceans with land, air, outer space and cyberspace. This changing character of war necessarily makes choice of law decisions harder between the law of armed conflict and the law of naval warfare, neutrality law, and peacetime regimes that apply to different domains. The prescient perspective offered by Kraska and Pedrozo is essential to understand how international law plays its role for future naval warfare engaged in the networked environment.