Many theorists have studied the theory of sea power and naval diplomacy. However, no one has looked at the connection between naval diplomacy and violations of another nation’s borders.
In this essay the connection between James Cable’s theory on naval diplomacy and violations of another nation’s borders will be investigated. There will be two types of violations, the first is an unintentional border violation, and the second will be a violation without crossing any border, offending the nation with its presence. The first violation will be represented by the grounding of the Soviet submarine U-137 in Swedish water in 1981, and the second by the case off the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
The results show that only the unintentional violation could be explained with Cable’s theory of naval diplomacy. Additionally, none one of the variables in Cable’s theory could explain the second violation; a violation without crossing any border, offending the nation with its presence.