Problems of the Pacific

The author surveys the strategic and economic dynamics shaping the Pacific, assessing the ambitions and capacities of regional powers—Russia, Japan, China, the United States, Great Britain and their colonial possessions—alongside Latin America and Canada. Chapters analyze population and resource potential, naval and military strength, diplomatic treaties, the engineering and geopolitical effects of an interoceanic canal, industrial and trade patterns, and the condition of indigenous peoples. Emphasis falls on rivalries for maritime dominance, routes of commerce, and strategic bases, and on how technological and political change may redraw influence across the Pacific littoral in the coming era.