The International Seapower Symposium (ISS) is a biennial meeting held at the U.S. Naval War College (NWC), hosted by the Chief of Naval Operations and the President, U.S. Naval War College. First held in Newport, R.I. in 1969, ISS convenes regularly, every two to three years, to provide a forum for senior international naval leaders to discuss common maritime challenges and improve international maritime security cooperation. ISS 16 was originally scheduled to be held in September 2001, but was cancelled due to the events of September 11, 2001.
Attendees to the symposia include the chiefs of navies and coast guards from around the world, who gather for three days to discuss maritime issues and listen to a selection of distinguished speakers. In 1969, there were 80 attendees representing 37 countries. By 2014, attendance has increased to 199 military and civilian attendees from 115 countries.
The original objective for ISS was to promote mutual understanding among the leaders of the world's maritime nations. Beginning with ISS 4, each symposia was centered around a theme which have concentrated around different aspects of cooperation among navies, navies’ roles in non-military operations, common challenges, information sharing, and global solutions to security. One of the results of ISS is the initiation and growth of regional arrangements such as the Inter-American Naval Conference, Western Pacific Naval Symposia, Black Sea – Mediterranean Regional Symposia, Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, and African Sea Power Symposium.
Access is open to all researchers, unless otherwise specified.
Material in this collection is in the public domain, unless otherwise noted.
Author, “Title,” Page or Date. International Seapower Symposium records, RG 22, Box number, Folder number. Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
This collection consists of correspondence, reports, publications, photographs, audio cassettes, digital media (floppy disks and compact discs, etc.), and digital files regarding the International Seapower Symposium. These records document the organization and proceedings of each symposium and include speeches, presentations, schedules, programs, reports, and other materials used and referenced at each symposia. The extent of records for each symposium varies.
Records from 1969-1976 contain folders for each country that had an officer attending the symposium. Within these folders are correspondence, biographical and career information, and their travel arrangements. Also found within this record group are speeches and reports from symposia were established due to the influence of the International Seapower Symposium. These include the 1972 Regional Seapower Symposium, hosted biannually in Venice for naval leaders from Mediterranean and Black Sea countries to discuss common challenges, and the 1973 Hague Symposium, held annually to focus on post-conflict transitions and international justice.
This collection is arranged in chronological order according to symposium.
Transfers to the NWC Archives in 1973, 1976, and unknown dates. Materials from ISS 18-21 were deposited by the Events and Protocol Office in August 2015.
Boxes 1-9, which hold materials relating to the first three symposiums, were deposited by Captain Clarence O. Fiske, International Conferences Secretariat, and they reflect his organizational schema.
Boxes 10-22 have been processed in batches by archives staff, according to archival rules in effect at the time of accruals.
Please contact the Naval Historical Collection (nhc@usnwc.edu) to inquire about availability of specific items seen online.
Future additions are expected.
See box 16a for the draft and editing version.