I found this picture today just surfing around and thought it was a cool picture. George Modelskiand William Thompson theorized in their book, Seapower in Global Power, 1494 - 1993, that long cycles begin and end with "global wars" and as a result a new (and improved) dominant global power emerges. They argue that one of the critical elements of these "global wars" (and the dominant global powers) has been the naval power because naval power provide global reach, which has been one of the defining attributes of the dominant powers. Of course, wars cannot be won only with a large and strong navy, but it does play a very large role in winning wars.
Anyway, as I looked at this picture, I just thought it was a great snapshot of the modern American naval power.
