"For well over two centuries, the U.S. Navy has engaged in an ever broader array of nonmilitary missions. Although a fundamental raison d'etre of navies concerns hard power, in the twentieth century an awareness of the uses of soft power developed. For example, since ancient times protecting against piracy has been a common naval problem, while since the mid-nineteenth century equally important patrol missions, such as attempts to stop the illegal slave trade, have been conducted by the U.S. Navy. After the Cold War, many other nonmilitary missions became important, in particular maritime humanitarian-aid missions like the post-tsunami Operation Unified Assistance in Southeast Asia during 2004-2005 ... this volume presents nine historical case studies examining the use of navies in nonmilitary missions"--Preface.

"June 2015"--Page ii.

Introduction : navies are not just for fighting / by Bruce A. Elleman and S.C.M. Paine -- Sailors and slaves : USS Constellation and the transatlantic slave trade / by John Pentangelo -- Overwhelming force and the Venezuelan crisis of 1902-1903 / by Henry J. Hendrix -- Starvation blockade and Herbert Hoover's Commission for Relief in Belgium, 1914-1919 / by Bruce A. Elleman -- The Allied embargo of Japan, 1939-1941 : from rollback to deterrence to boomerang / by S.C.M. Paine -- After the fall of South Vietnam : humanitarian assistance in the South China Sea / by Jan K. Herman -- Continuing to serve : deploying naval vessels as artificial reefs / by Tom Williams -- Naval sonars, strandings, and responsible stewardship of the seas / by Darlene R. Ketten -- U.S. Coast Guard response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill / by Mary Landry -- Deep blue diplomacy : soft power and China's antipiracy operations / by Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange -- Conclusions : breaking the mold / by Bruce A. Elleman and S.C.M. Paine.