The Maritime Dimension Of International Security

A total of 2,463 actual or attempted acts of piracy were registered around the world between 2000 and the end of 2006. This represents an annual average incident rate of 352, a substantial increase over the mean of 209 recorded for the period of 1994 1999. The concentration of pirate attacks continues to be greatest in Southeast Asia, especially in the waters around the Indonesian archipelago (including stretches of the Malacca Straits that fall under the territorial jurisdiction of the Jakarta government), which accounted for roughly 25 percent of all global incidents during 2006. Seven main factors have contributed to the general emergence of piracy in the contemporary era. First and most fundamentally, there has been a massive increase in commercial maritime traffic. Combined with the large number of ports around the world, this growth has provided pirates with an almost limitless range of tempting, high-payoff target. Second is the higher incidence of seaborne commercial traffic that passes through narrow and congested maritime chokepoints. These bottlenecks require ships to significantly reduce speed to ensure safe passage, which dramatically heightens their exposure to midsea interception and attack.

In an age of uncertainties influenced by information technologies and the networking of societies, the maritime domain remains the main global lane of communication, vital for trade and security. The European Union has become a maritime actor, carrying out counter-piracy and maritime capacity-building operations and actively dealing with maritime safety, fisheries protection, port security, maritime surveillance and counter-immigration at sea. The Union's policies, mechanisms and activities related to the maritime domain are now backed by a Maritime Security Strategy, adopted by the Council in June 2014. This cutting edge book accounts for the trends in maritime strategy and seapower politics as well as the recent developments in the field, both at the conceptual and practical level. It discusses the significance of the maritime domain for European security in general and for the EU in particular. Readers are provided with the necessary tools to critically assess the EU's potential as a global maritime actor and evaluate why Europe's prosperity and security rests on its capacity to shape events at sea.

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.

While there is enough literature dealing with different facets of the topic related to maritime security, this book is an effort to deal with multiple facets of the subject. Topics covered in the book include themes like multiple maritime zones as defined under UNCLOS-III and India's MZI Act of 1976 as also state's criminal jurisdiction in these zones under prevailing international norms and state practices. The author has attempted to assess the available capability of various maritime enforcement agencies like the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Customs (Marine) and the Marine Police as well as the possible role that CISF can play in basic point security of port and off-shore platforms. Last two chapters deal with developments since 2004 and steps that were taken to evolve a framework for coastal security as well as steps initiated after 2008 to strengthen cooperation among various agencies involved in that context. Attempt has been made in the last chapter to suggest ways and means to improve not only the overall structures of maritime security but also to strengthen sea governance during Phase II (2011-16) of Coastal Security Scheme.

The vast size and highly unregulated nature of the world's waterways have made the maritime environment an increasingly attractive theater for perpetrators of transnational violence. Piracy and sea-borne terrorism have been on the rise since 2000. While the United States has spearheaded several important initiatives to improve maritime security, the author urges policymakers to consider four additional measures to safeguard the world's oceans.

Taken for granted as the natural order of things, peace at sea is in fact an immense and recent achievement—but also an enormous strategic challenge if it is to be maintained in the future. In Maritime Strategy and Global Order, an international roster of top scholars offers historical perspectives and contemporary analysis to explore the role of naval power and maritime trade in creating the international system. The book begins in the early days of the industrial revolution with the foundational role of maritime strategy in building the British Empire. It continues into the era of naval disorder surrounding the two world wars, through the passing of the Pax Britannica and the rise of the Pax Americana, and then examines present-day regional security in hot spots like the South China Sea and Arctic Ocean. Additional chapters engage with important related topics such as maritime law, resource competition, warship evolution since the end of the Cold War, and naval intelligence. A first-of-its-kind collection, Maritime Strategy and Global Order offers scholars, practitioners, students, and others with an interest in maritime history and strategic issues an absorbing long view of the role of the sea in creating the world we know.

Do piracy and maritime terrorism, individually or together, present a threat to international security, and what relationship if any exists between them? Piracy may be a marginal problem in itself, but the connections between organised piracy and wider criminal networks and corruption on land make it an element of a phenomenon that can have a weakening effect on states and a destabilising one on the regions in which it is found. Furthermore, it is also an aspect of a broader problem of disorder at sea that, exacerbated by the increasing pressure on littoral waters from growing numbers of people and organisations seeking to exploit maritime resources, encourages maritime criminality and gives insurgents and terrorists the freedom to operate. In this context, maritime terrorism, though currently only a low-level threat, has the potential to spread and become more effective in the event of political change on land. It is only by addressing the issue of generalised maritime disorder that the problems of piracy and maritime terrorism may be controlled in the long term.

Incidents of piracy doubled in number from 2008 to 2009, highlighting the need for stronger measures to combat the problem. At the same time, the threat from terrorist actions in the maritime environment also represents an increasingly worrying trend. This book presents the proceedings of the NATO Centre of Excellence – Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) Advanced Research Workshop, entitled ‘Maritime Security and Defence Against Terrorism’, held in Ankara, Turkey, in November 2010. The workshop consisted of four sessions: threats in the maritime environment; vulnerabilities and sensitivities of maritime security; combating the threats to maritime security and maritime terrorism; and lastly, Turkey's contribution to global maritime security. Each of the presentations was followed by a debate, with the 10 experts from five countries joining the group of international participants to discuss the issues raised together; the aim of the workshop being to facilitate awareness of the issues in NATO and affiliated countries. Representing a significant contribution to finding the way forward in maritime security, this book will be of interest to all those whose work involves them in countering piracy and the terrorist threat in the maritime environment.