The Indian Ocean Perspectives On A Strategic Arena

Viewing the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean as a distinct region united by instabilities as well as mutual interests, these essays examine whether stability in the region will be achieved through the buildup of military strength and the formation of new cooperative security arrangements. The contributors focus on the five subregions--the Persian Gulf, South Asia, the Red Sea and Horn of Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, and Australasia. Among topics discussed are: developments that affect the region, including expansion of navies; the prospect for arms limitation; the implications of the Iranian Revolution for the Persian Gulf as well as for its internal stability; the political and economic ramifications of the South Africa/black Africa animosity; the religious, ethnic, and political conflicts of southern and eastern Asia; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. ISBN 0-8223-0649-2: $55.00.

While the strategic dynamics in the IOR are complex and involve many powers there is little doubt that the “strategic triangle” involving the US, China and India is one of the key traditional security issues facing the IOR. Given Sri Lanka’s geopolitically significant location in the IOR this strategic triangle is bound to have an impact on its national interests and security. The central questions raised by this volume are the following: What are the prospects of competition and cooperation within the strategic triangle? What structure or pattern will the triangular relations assume? How can stability be maintained in the triangular relationship in the interest of peace in the IOR? and What would be the impact of this strategic triangle on a small country such as Sri Lanka situated in a geopolitically significant location in the IOR? The dynamics of the US-China-India strategic triangle in the IOR will be complicated, containing elements of both competition and cooperation. The research contained in the substantive chapters of this volume present a multiplicity of views on the possible patterns that the strategic triangle can assume. Based on Harry Harding’s typology of the strategic triangle in international affairs, these include: one mediating the conflict between the other two; two-against-one; and all-working-together. The multiplicity of patterns that the strategic triangle could assume indicate that there is likely to be considerable fluctuation in its structure. What is important in maintaining stability is that the competition is not allowed to become unmanageable, and the fostering of cooperation based on common interests. The US-China-India strategic triangle poses Sri Lanka as a country situated in a geopolitically significant location in the IOR with both challenges and opportunities. The most fundamental challenge is posed by the tendency of each of these three major powers to subordinate Sri Lanka to their grand strategic objectives and interaction with each other. The fundamental opportunity presented to Sri Lanka by the strategic triangle is that of using its geopolitical importance to each of these three major powers by virtue of its location in the IOR to its own advantage in a way that best serves its national interests.

It is a privilege to introduce the reader to this book, as I believe that it will make a signi?cant contribution to, given the dif?culties in the knowledge of the Indian Ocean, developing cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. There have been numerous failed efforts at regional cooperation in different fora in the Indian Ocean. As a result of the land-based orientation of the people in the region, the importance for countries to develop the power to govern the sea has largely been ignored. The maritime approach taken by Manoj Gupta to the Indian Ocean as a region in international relations offers a timely and critical assessment of the potential for regional cooperation and ocean governance. The political leadership in the region can no longer ignore the need for coop- ation in maritime affairs in the Indian Ocean. This book enriches the literature on Indian Ocean issues as it argues convincingly that the security of nations, economic well-being of the people and health of the Indian Ocean cannot be divested from one another. All are fundamentally dependant on the ability of the countries in the region to individually and collectively exert the power to govern the sea.

Despite three decades of continuous globalization, transitional economies in many countries remain marginalized. In order to maximize the positive growth of employment creation opportunities in various sectors, including agriculture, existing patterns of long-run sustainable equilibrium relationships, technology transfers, and trade to promote export-led economic growth must be examined and identified. Regional Trade and Development Strategies in the Era of Globalization provides a comprehensive overview of globalization and regional initiative trends of trade and development through the examination of theoretical and practical experiences of their underpinning principles through approaches to overcome the obstacles of globalization and its positive and negative impacts on global trade and economic development. The content within this publication examines economic integration, foreign investment, and financial risk. It is designed for trade specialists, government officials, students, researchers, policymakers, business professionals, academicians, and economists.

This book assesses India’s role as a major power in the Indian Ocean. Many see the Indian Ocean as naturally falling within India’s sphere of influence but, as this book demonstrates, India has a long way to go before it could achieve regional dominance. The book outlines the development of Indian thinking on its role in the Indian Ocean and examines India’s strategic relationships in the region, including with maritime South Asia, the Indian Ocean islands, East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia. The book then discusses India’s ambivalent relationship with the United States and explores its attitude towards China’s growing power in the Indian Ocean. It concludes by discussing the region’s evolving strategic order – does India have what it takes to become the leading power in the region?

A vital component of the interdependent global economy, maritime transit routes are nowhere more critical than those traversing the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. Previously, areas of the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific have been viewed as separate and discrete political, economic, and military regions. In recent years, however, a variety of economic, political, and military forces have created a new understanding of these maritime expanses as one zone of global interaction. This book complements the material presented in its companion volume, Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, by analysing the perceptions, interests, objectives, maritime capabilities, and policies of the major maritime powers operating in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. In addition, the book also assesses the contemporary maritime challenges and opportunities that confront the global community within what is rapidly becoming recognised as an integrated zone of global interaction. A valuable study for researchers and policymakers working in the fields of maritime security; military, security and peace studies; conflict resolution; and Asian affairs.

This book analyses the emergence of the Indian Ocean as security complex and a strategic space of central importance and also looks at its prospective future. As well as US-China rivalry, the India-China rivalry is now the defining factor in the Indian Ocean – irrespective of the strategic asymmetry. This new situation has opened a space for middle-powers, old and new, to intervene. The authors argue that this situation may turn into an additional source of instability and that the creation of an inclusive and comprehensive regional security architecture, as well as the strengthening of regional multilateralism, should be the priority of all stakeholders in the coming decade.