1 Network Control

Control over global communications networks is central to world leadership, but much remains unclear about the relationship between the two. During the late nineteenth century, when Britain's dominance in the international system seemed to be at its apex, both the high seas and the global submarine cable network were widely perceived to be under British control. This perception was strengthened by the reported cooperative relationship between the British government and the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies, the cable monopolist headquartered in Britain. Communications superiority and naval superiority reinforced each other: cable communications allowed the Royal Navy to direct its forces, and naval power protected the cable links.