The Australian Defence Force has long had an important role in providing humanitarian assistance to Pacific island countries. The force has extraordinary capabilities—people, expertise, training and equipment—in delivering assistance quickly and efficiently. The ADF is …
For several years, Japan has been investing heavily in its diplomatic engagement with Indian Ocean island states and may now need to consider how to better extend that engagement to environmental security challenges. A recent …
Australia’s political leaders have spoken strongly about assisting our Pacific ‘family’ through the Covid-19 crisis. But the needs of the island nations go far beyond medical supplies and expertise. The Royal Australian Navy could play …
In a new ASPI report, titled Ocean horizons, we examine how Pacific island countries and Indian Ocean island states are managing and prioritising their maritime security challenges. The Indo-Pacific islands face an intricate offshore tapestry: …
Australia is an important Indian Ocean power and it needs to start acting like one. As ASPI’s new report, Australia’s second sea: Facing our multipolar future in the Indian Ocean argues, it’s clear that the …
Since last November, many of Washington’s closest allies and partners have been in a virtual state of panic over the impetuous and unpredictable President Trump. But on a recent trip to India we found that …
This is the last post of The Strategist’s series on the Bay of Bengal. As noted in previous posts, the Bay suffers from many trans-regional security issues—including separatist conflicts, piracy and people smuggling—which will increasingly …
A key part of the strategic jostling occurring in the Bay of Bengal involves India’s attempts to consolidate its role as the leading maritime power in the Bay. While British India absolutely dominated the Bay …
Since late 2013, Beijing has been promoting its ‘Maritime Silk Route’ (MSR) initiative as a proposed oceanic complement to its various overland ‘Silk Route’ projects. Details remain sketchy, but the proposal appears to envisage a …
The Bay of Bengal has long been the poor cousin of the long Asian littoral. Thailand is often seen as one of the Asian ‘Tigers’, but Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka missed out on the …
The Bay of Bengal is fast becoming a key area of economic and strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific. It’s the largest bay in the world and forms an important, if neglected, part of southern Asia. …
There are many good reasons to believe that India could become the predominant power in the Indian Ocean region, at least in the long run. Geographically, it dominates the area. It has a massive population, …
