Impacts Of Maritime Insecurity On Peace And Stability In The Indian Ocean Region

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - Other International Politics Topics, grade: PASS, University of Nairobi (Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies (IDIS)), course: International Relations, language: English, abstract: Maritime security is a key component of collective security and thus forms part of the foundation for economic development. The Indian Ocean region, particularly the East African region does not have its own maritime policy or strategy, despite the acknowledged importance of this component of any national or regional economy. Given the unique needs of its populace, priorities and requirements of the various states, the East African part of the Indian Ocean therefore needs to develop a maritime strategy to promote economic development for its people through improved maritime security, leading to improved global competitiveness for its goods and services. To achieve the desired peace and a stable environment, cooperation and adoption of a holistic maritime legislation is mandatory which, in turn, would strengthen the maritime institutions which are crucial for a maritime strategy. This combination of strengthened and coherent legislation, institutions and cooperation would enhance the policing of, and prosecution for, illegal acts, eg piracy, terrorism, trafficking and the dumping of waste materials; it would better regulate the fishing industry; ensure pollution will be policed; countering of smuggling and illicit trade; transnational or cross-border crime would be better monitored and reduced; and further, the safe navigation of shipping guaranteed. This will eventually translate to a peaceful, a more secure and stable Indian ocean region. Thus the required good order at sea should be viewed as a function of how states should exercise their jurisdiction on maritime issues for sustainable peace and development.

This book provides a synoptic view of the Indian Ocean and maritime security in its contested waters. Using a historical approach, it reveals vital links to events in the present day. The volume: Highlights the competition between major Asian powers to control the ‘String of Pearls’ — a reference to the Chinese attempts at controlling the Indian Ocean periphery. Shows that cooperation amongst the major powers of the region could abate the threat of the potential of conflict becoming global and inviting external intervention. Discusses India’s Look-East policy and the deepening relation between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Argues for the need of Indian Ocean states and particularly the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to look afresh at their political and security issues and common interests. Suggests measures for evolving a robust mechanism of maintaining the Indian Ocean as a sustainable zone of commerce, energy, security and peace rather than threat. A major contribution on a critical area in Asian geopolitics, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of international relations, politics, defence studies and maritime security studies, along with strategic affairs experts and think tanks.

Maritime security is one of the latest additions to the field of international as well as national security. The concept has received growing attention especially due to the intensification of concerns over maritime terrorism since 2000. The rise of modern piracy, maritime crimes such as human trafficking, and the increasing importance of the 'blue economy' and issues relating to freedom of navigation, maritime environmental protection and resource management have resulted in increased significance of maritime security studies. A significant number of states and other international actors such as, Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and Transnational Corporations (TNCs), have placed maritime security high in their security agenda. This priority is reflected in several governmental and intergovernmental strategies for maritime security. In addition to that the regional grouping in the Indian Ocean and Indo – Pacific, such as ASEAN, BIMSTEC, IORA, and IONS have placed maritime security issues high in their agenda.

The Indian Ocean is of tremendous geo-political and strategic relevance. More than eighty per cent of global seaborne trade in oil passes through the Ocean. Access to resources is under-regulated (fishing) or has yet to be conceived (deep sea bed mining) and security concerns such as piracy and the stability of strategically located states, are propelling countries to rethink naval capabilities and priorities. This applies to littoral countries as well as to extra-regional powers such as China, Japan, European countries and the United States, each of which is keenly interested in maintaining and securing open sea-lanes of communication. The revival in maritime concern is prompting new dynamics of competition and cooperation in a region that has historically been characterised by dense cultural, economic and political networks. The Indian Ocean is an extensive and expansive space where no one power has been able to hold sway. Hence, multilateralism and open regionalism are key contributors to stability, both in terms of military as well as commercial coordination. In this issue, scholars from Asia, Europe and the US examine institutions and examples of maritime governance within the Indian Ocean including security arrangements, evolving forms of alliance building and counter-balancing, policy planning and forecasting. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region.

Unregulated or lesser regulated maritime spaces are ideal theatres of operation and mediums of transportation for terrorists, insurgents and pirates. For more than a decade, the Indian Ocean waters adjoining Somalia have been a particular locus of such activities, with pirates hijacking vessels, and Al Qaeda and Al Shabab elements travelling between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, operating lucrative businesses and even staging deadly operations at sea. However, these operations and threats remain, by and large, understudied. Responses to the two threats have varied, highlighting the lack of cohesive regional and global institutions with the mandate and the capacity to address them. Those scholarly deliberations on Indian Ocean maritime security focus on piracy and armed robbery at sea, while their terrorist/insurgent counterparts have eluded sustained scrutiny. This volume will help close that gap by looking at both from the field in Somalia and Yemen, within broader frameworks of regional maritime security and port-state control, international maritime law and the ongoing search for maritime resources. The European, African and Middle Eastern case studies add salience to the regional and international complexity surrounding maritime security off the Horn of Africa. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region.

At the cusp of the 21st Century, the security of the Indian Ocean region continues to be confronted with boundless threats, more from non-traditional sources, that have obviously become manifold in the Post-Cold War era. These threats emanate from non-military sources like drug-trafficking, frequent cross-border terrorism, proliferation of small arms, demographic disequilibrium , spill-over effects of domestic violence, resource depletion, some ethno-religious and tribal conflicts, etc.

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The maritime domain, hosting the highways of global prosperity - through trade, industrial raw material and energy links - rates high in its potential for conflict. As the global pendulum of economic vibrancy swings eastwards, the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has been receiving increasing attention from all actors, state as well as non - state ones and now presents itself in sharp focus as one of the volatile seascapes on this earth. The navies operating in the region will, therefore, need to depend on high technology and associated doctrines and procedures, so as to effectively deal with the wide spectrum of challenges therein. It will also become incumbent upon such littoral states as can afford the high cost of technology, to catch up so as to maintain their relevance in the great game being played out in their very own backyard. The United States as a leader in inventing and exploiting technology sets its own benchmarks in internalization of advanced technologies to undertake maritime missions at and from the sea in support of its military operations ashore. China, on the other hand, has been striving towards achieving asymmetric war - fighting capabilities, supported by other developing technologies as well as core capabilities like the Beidou position - fixing system, which would be central to network - centric operations, including missile guidance systems.