Defence & Security|

Maritime Security

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Not all maritime disputes are built the same

Maritime disputes in Southeast Asia should be viewed less as a single big basket of problems, and more as smaller individual problems with their own corresponding solutions. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach. And three inter-related policy contexts can help explain why some troubles persist

By Evan Laksmana

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Taming troubled waters

While regional countries respond to Covid-19 and the many social and economic consequences, ensuring peace and stability in the South China Sea has become even more important due to its role in connecting continents, fostering international trade and ensuring supply chains are not broken. This will

By Lai Thai Binh

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Law of the sea: A contested watershed ruling

When in 2016 the Arbitral Tribunal issued its watershed ruling in the case between the Philippines and China, responses from the international community were lacklustre. The Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative’s “arbitration support tracker” suggests that eight governments have publicly

By Clive Schofield

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China’s nine-dash line proves stranger than fiction

Vietnam recently banned the film Uncharted from domestic distribution due to a scene depicting an “illegal image” of China’s infamous “nine-dash line”. This is not the first time popular culture has become embroiled in the politics of the South China Sea. In 2021, the Philippines’

By Bec Strating

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Thinking outside the box on Southeast Asian maritime security

The Southeast Asian maritime domain continues to be fraught. The Covid-19 pandemic brought about an observable increase in transnational crimes such as smuggling – at first, pandemic-related medical material, then later food – as well as illegal drug trading and human trafficking. Piracy and

By Collin Koh

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Shore thing: climate change and maritime security intrinsically linked

The recently released Sixth Assessment Report from the International Panel on Climate Change emphasised the urgency of adapting to and mitigating climate change in coastal regions to “prevent the further acceleration of sea-level rise beyond 2050”. Climate change is likely to have

By Kate Clayton

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Of maritime security and a rules-based order

Maritime scholars and practitioners often wrestle with the question of what a “desirable” architecture for maritime security should be, and how must it be properly implemented? The issue is complex, because although security is best delivered in collective and cooperative settings, there is

By Abhijit Singh

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Order at sea: Southeast Asia’s maritime security

However you define good order at sea, it’s hard not to feel rather pessimistic about its future. A host of accounts and reports from popular writers including Ian Urbina or environmental organisations such as Greenpeace and UNESCO suggest plenty of reasons to support the notion that the seas are

By Geoffrey Till

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The Indo-Pacific Operating System: How can America shore up the regional order?

Five essays from experts from, or based in, Southeast Asia provide a sense of the region’s complexity and the nuance with which any effort to shore up – or rebuild – regional order must grapple

By Ben Scott

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AUKUS and the CPTPP: It’s all about China

China’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) just hours after announcement of the new tripartite AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and United States) security partnership may – or may not – have been coincidental.

By Ian Hill

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Australia’s seaborne trade: Essential but undefendable

Thomas Shugart’s excellent Lowy analysis Australia and the growing reach of China’s military is by far the best thing I’ve read on the specific defence implications for Australia of China’s swift emergence as a maritime power. It not only explains how China’s maritime forces have developed

By Hugh White

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Australia's South China Sea Challenges

Canberra needs to work with Southeast Asia to address looming South China Sea challenges from China and the US

By Malcolm Cook

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The Crisis after the Crisis: How Ladakh will Shape India’s Competition with China

The border crisis in Ladakh may end in war or peace — or it may never end

By Arzan Tarapore

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Eyes on the Prize: Australia, China, and the Antarctic Treaty System

Despite China’s increasing assertiveness in Antarctica, the Antarctic Treaty System is not failing and Australia should refrain from geostrategic panic

By Claire Young

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Russia and China team up on the Indian Ocean

Two recent naval exercises demonstrate the potential for Russia-China cooperation in the Indian Ocean, and how the two present a much greater threat to a continued US role and influence in the region than either would individually. Last year, South Africa hosted a maritime exercise with

By Oriana Skylar Mastro

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Rebirth of the quadrilateral Malabar: Promises and portents for India

Lying at the south-eastern extremity of the Indian peninsula, the Malabar is a serene, idyllic region at the confluence of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. This region was once the historical gateway for maritime trade between India and the rest of the world, until the

By Prakash Gopal

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Get behind Southeast Asia with clear policy against China bullies

Originally published in The Australian

By Malcolm Cook

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Diego Garcia: An American perspective

Diego Garcia is the United States’ major geostrategic and logistics support base in the Indian Ocean. Sovereignty over the island is increasingly being challenged by Mauritius, but it seems unlikely that Washington would be interested in a deal that would facilitate its transfer. The base has

By Michael McDevitt

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Taiwan Flashpoint: What Australia Can Do to Stop the Coming Taiwan Crisis

Australian diplomacy could ease rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, if Australian policymakers rediscovered an appetite for involvement in the flashpoint

By Brendan Taylor

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With new coastguard, Myanmar looks to improve maritime security

In March this year, Myanmar’s Defence Ministry submitted a proposal to parliament to establish a national coastguard. Given strong support for the idea from the main political parties, the armed forces, and the public, it is expected that the necessary legislation will be passed without undue

By Andrew Selth

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It’s time for a “Quad” of coast guards

The so-called Quad group of Indo-Pacific maritime democracies – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – is a valuable grouping, although it is still underutilised in many ways. One of the most effective ways that these countries could work together to enhance maritime security in the

By David Brewster

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Australia struggles for clarity on the South China Sea

The Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor has noted the absence of China discussion in Australia’s current election campaign, a state of affairs which prompted his colleague Sam Roggeveen to observe that “Bipartisanship on China is becoming a form of collusion”. Given that the

By Iain Henry

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Quad redux: A new agenda for Asia's maritime democracies

With President Donald Trump part-way into his protracted tour of Asia, much of the focus has been on the North Korea threat, his personal relations with Prime Minister Abe of Japan and President Moon of South Korea, and his interaction with President Xi Jinping, China’s political strongman who

By Andrew Shearer

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Can Boris Johnson deliver on his colossal naval expectations?

Boris Johnson’s ebullient pronouncements last week on a future Royal Navy freedom of navigation 'operation' in the Indo-Pacific region have attracted attention, but also criticism. At the press conference following the “2+2” meeting of Australian/UK defence and foreign ministers (AUKMIN), on

By Euan Graham

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More Indonesian maritime co-operation remains an elusive goal

Jakarta is only very slowly responding to Canberra's overtures for more joint security at sea. We have no choice but to persevere, writes Euan Graham. Originally published in The Australian Financial Review. Photo: Getty Images/Barcroft Media

By Euan Graham

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China’s new tactic: playing by the rules at sea

Originally published in The Australian

By Ashley Townshend, Rory Medcalf

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Shifting waters: China’s new passive assertiveness in Asian maritime security

In this Report, Ashley Townshend and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Professor Rory Medcalf examine China’s evolving maritime security conduct. They argue that China’s less confrontational but more strategically assertive behaviour has paradoxical implications for regional security,

By Ashley Townshend, Rory Medcalf

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Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper – Forward funded defence

In a commentary for PacNet, Euan Graham discusses Australia's latest Defence White Paper. For more from PacNet, click here

By Euan Graham

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Much at stake for Turnbull and the region at East Asia Summit

The 10th East Asia Summit this weekend promises to be one of the most interesting bits of summitry in some time. This, the last stop on Malcolm Turnbull’s five-nation tour which has included one-on-one meetings with the top three on Forbes' Most Powerful List, is also likely to prove the most

By Elliot Brennan

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South China Sea: US Navy mission justified by China's excessive claims

After many months of intense debate inside the Obama Administration, the US conducted a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea on 26 October. The destroyer USS Lassen sailed for over an hour within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, a low tide elevation (LTE; a feature that was

By Bonnie S Glaser

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US launches FoNOPS in the South China Sea: Better late than never?

So, the much-heralded US freedom of navigation (FoN) operation in the South China Sea has finally seen daylight. The designated lead, the USS Lassen, is a guided missile destroyer which has already been patrolling the South China Sea in recent weeks. After leaving port in East Malaysia this

By Euan Graham

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Malabar: Modi Government misses an opportunity as annual exercise slumps

US-India relations are in good shape. The personal relationship between Modi and Obama appears excellent, there are big, ambitious ideas in the pipeline – like US assistance to Indian carrier development – and the strategic dialogue is getting deeper in several ways. But things are falling

By Shashank Joshi

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Open-source intelligence links: Soldiers on Instagram, Russian submarines, Chinese drones, Syria and more

Thanks to advances in digital technologies, open-source intelligence (OSINT) is playing an increasingly important role in the mix of intelligence collected by state and non-state actors. Now and then The Interpreter will publish OSINT links instead of the weekly Digital Asia links to capture the

By Danielle Cave

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Nuclear-armed submarines in Indo-Pacific Asia: Stabiliser or menace?

In this Report, Lowy Institute Research Associate Brendan Thomas-Noone and Nonresident Fellow Professor Rory Medcalf examine the implications of sea-based nuclear weapons for strategic stability in the Indo-Pacific. This paper is part of a wider research and outreach project on nuclear

By Brendan Thomas-Noone, Rory Medcalf

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Despite protests, collective self-defence and Abe remain

There were huge protests over the weekend in Japan against legislation, approved in principle by the Abe cabinet in July, which will reinterpret the Japanese Constitution to permit the very limited exercise of collective self-defence. This fierce public opposition to the normalisation of Japan's

By Malcolm Cook

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Hegemon: Wargaming the South China Sea

Hegemon is a wickedly interactive multi-player/multi-round geostrategic game devised by the Potomac Foundation. Each player represents a country, fielding certain economic and military resources and possessing (secret) objectives. Ranged across a gods-eye planetary gameboard, Hegemon is the '

By Julian Snelder

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Dredging fleet shores up Beijing's position in South China Sea and beyond

By Dr Andrew Erickson, Associate Professor at the US Naval War College, and Research Intern Kevin Bond at the China Maritime Studies Institute, US Naval War College China's burgeoning dredging fleet adds another piece to the country's 'Swiss Army Knife' of infrastructure developmental tools that

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The growing militarisation of the South China Sea

It's increasingly clear that China intends to use its artificial islands in the South China Sea for military purposes. Admiral Harry Harris, commander of US Pacific Command, delivered this assessment on a panel that I was privileged to be part of at the Aspen Security Forum last week. Harris

By Bonnie S Glaser

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Japanese defence normalisation: Progress on three fronts

Over the last two months, there has been noticeable progress on three separate fronts in Japan's 30-year process of 'renormalising' its' approach to external defence: Last week, the Abe cabinet approved the 2015 Japanese Defence White Paper after revisions were made to make it focus more

By Malcolm Cook

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Here be pirates: Why Southeast Asia needs to boost maritime cooperation

Source: IMB data, compiled by Elliot Brennan. On 1 April, a Malaysia-flagged tanker was attacked and hijacked by 15 to 25 armed pirates off the coast of Borneo. The crew was held hostage at gunpoint while the pirates transferred the tanker's gas cargo to their own vessel before escaping. The

By Elliot Brennan

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South China Sea: Why Korea is silent, and why that's a good thing

Last month on The Diplomat, Van Jackson made an important argument about South Korea's increasingly notable silence on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea (South China Sea). Jackson, like many analysts, recognises growing Chinese misbehaviour there, most obviously the destabilising

By Robert E Kelly

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The perception gap: reading China's maritime objectives in Indo-Pacific Asia

In this Lowy Institute Report Nonresident Fellows Linda Jakobson and Rory Medcalf identify both the real differences in interests between China and other powers in the Indo-Pacific, but also the sharp divergences in perceptions regarding China’s maritime strategic objectives

By Linda Jakobson, Rory Medcalf

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North Korea missile test: Seoul must now focus on sub hunting

North Korea's apparently successful test of a workable submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was big news over the weekend. Signs that North Korea had been working on designing and testing both an SLBM and a submarine with the vertical missile launch tubes capable of firing them have been

By Brendan Thomas-Noone

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Maritime security and threats to energy transportation in Southeast Asia

Maritime security and threats to energy transportation in Southeast Asia Euan Graham The RUSI Journal Volume 160, Issue 2, 2015, pp 20-31

By Euan Graham

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Divining the fluid element: from cooperation to conflict in Japan-China maritime relations

“Divining the fluid element: from cooperation to conflict in Japan-China maritime relations” first appeared in Security Challenges, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2015), pp 51-73. Posted here with the kind permission of the publisher, The Kokoda Foundation. http://www.kokodafoundation.org/

By Euan Graham

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New Defence Guidelines re-brand US-Japan alliance

The US-Japan Defence Cooperation Guidelines are best thought of as an occasional re-branding exercise for the US-Japan alliance in response to changing strategic conditions. Following a review, a revised version of the Guidelines was announced on 27 April. The 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation

By Euan Graham

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Ashton Carter's Northeast Asia visit looks south

Ashton Carter's inaugural trip to Asia as US Secretary of Defense went about as smoothly as he could have hoped. The logic of visiting Tokyo and Seoul ahead of other capitals in the region is straightforward. Between them, Japan and South Korea host over 80,000 US military personnel and the bulk

By Euan Graham

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Quick comment: Rory Medcalf on Australia's security challenges

This week’s Quick Comment podcast is with the new head of ANU’s National Security College and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow, Professor Rory Medcalf, who last night delivered a speech in which he argued that Australia needs to rethink how it approaches and considers national security and

By John Gooding

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Full spectrum defence: Re-thinking the fundamentals of Australian defence strategy

In this Analysis, Alan Dupont argues that successive Australian governments have failed to define an effective national defence strategy. Australia needs a defence strategy that counters threats across multiple domains, is based on more diverse regional defence relationships, and is underpinned by

By Alan Dupont

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The US-India convergence

One of the most important aspects of the recent dramatic shift in US-India relations has been the convergence in the two states' narratives about Asia. It's easy to forget that this change is palpable not just over a four-decade period, but even in the past six years alone. In 2009, early in his

By Shashank Joshi

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