Challenges and Opportunities for International Cooperation with Regional Powers for Maritime Security

Challenges and Opportunities for International Cooperation with Regional Powers for Maritime Security
1. Introduction
Undoubtedly, maintaining maritime security is important. Throughout history, nations with control over major bodies of water have held distinct strategic advantages. In the current era, a time of significant global economic instability, these factors have only increased in significance. A striking example of this can be found in the case of the United States and its “national security strategy,” which underlines the importance of US dominance in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Essentially, this requires the US to maintain a position where it can readily project force anywhere in the world, at any given time. This thinking is echoed by an increasing number of nations who believe that significant naval capabilities are a prerequisite for safeguarding their national security and economic prosperity. The possibility of such nations coming into conflict with one another as they pursue their individual interests is a matter of some concern. In the absence of any given power being able to establish maritime hegemony, it is likely that security dilemmas will develop as nations form alliances and seek various measures to guarantee their own safety. In this environment, it is essential to seek ways in which cooperative measures can be used to maintain security and to sidestep the arms races and the alliances which have in the past led to conflict. This argument is particularly pertinent to the case of Japan, an island nation which depends on secure sea-lanes for its economic survival, has significant trade dependencies with other nations in the Asia-Pacific region, and is a US ally which would be expected to support any US action in the event of a US engagement. This research aims to explore the opportunities for international cooperation in maintaining maritime security by Japan and other regional powers, with the eventual goal of producing a framework for assessing specific cooperative initiatives.
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2. The purpose of research, research question, and preview of the following chapters.
3. Overall summary.
1.1 Background
In order to thoroughly investigate regional power engagement in maritime security and its implications for international cooperation, a working definition for maritime security must first be established. Despite its ongoing evolution and variations in interpretations by different states and organizations, a basic and widely held understanding is that maritime security is an extension in the maritime sphere of approaches to security already well established in the international system. This either involves protection for the interests of the state or citizens and the state from global and non-traditional security threats. What is often implied, but seldom elaborated upon, is that security is indivisible from that of basic safety from risks and dangers, and these interests and the threats against them are to be maintained at a low level of their potential harm.
To better understand the role of regional powers in contemporary maritime security international cooperation, we begin with a discussion of recent changes in the nature of maritime security itself. The end of the Cold War has seen extraregional actors make relatively rapid and marked ingress into regions previously off-limits to them. Yet this trend has done little to ease concerns over the durability and resilience of maritime security. Several incidents since 11 September 2001, such as the attack on the French oil tanker Limburg, in which major political violence has stemmed from relatively minor incidents at sea, have led some to an itinerant sea figure being host to a new brand of nave warfare strategy. At the same time, the increase in piracy and armed robbery at sea, particularly in Southeast Asia and off the coast of Somalia, has indelibly linked the concept of maritime security with that of law and order. This, at a time when both universal and regional institutions in an age of globalization are feeling their way through the ramifications of shifting security governance, is built upon an integral stand, maritime or otherwise, between security and a just rule. These various factors have led to an increased recognition, both academic and within policy-making circles, of the need to better understand the parameters of what constitutes a secure maritime domain and how it may be upheld.
1.2 Purpose of the Research
The main reason why this research is focusing on cooperation between regional powers is because, compared with cooperation with extra-regional actors, it’s simpler yet still complicated. Extra-regional actors like the US or other great powers outside a certain region actually have the capability to project their power to maintain security in any point of the globe, and they have clear national interest in maintaining the flow of world trade since it relates to their economy. Meanwhile, weaker extra-regional powers such as ASEAN dialogue partners still don’t have the capability and still depend on the regional powers. It’s different with the case of regional powers; they are key actors in the security of the region. This research particularly focuses on Japan in Asia and Australia in the South Pacific/Indian Ocean, both of which have alliance relations with the US. Thus, their cooperation with the US will be discussed as an example of cooperation with extra-regional great powers. It should also be noted that those regions are still volatile compared to Europe and have not yet established security institutions like NATO.
This paper aims to analyze the challenges and opportunities for international cooperation between several regional powers in ensuring security in the maritime areas. The basic assumption is that these powers have both common and conflicting interests in a fragmented manner in security issues. Any forms of security, in order to be effective, require a certain degree of cooperation between the relevant actors. However, it is often stated as a simple thing to do yet difficult to achieve. Cooperation is ideal when those actors have common threats or are facing the same challenges, but in reality, most of those actors still have different priorities in those matters. Moreover, the threats and challenges themselves also often have an ambiguous character, whether they are common or concerning only a specific actor, thus resulting in competition in dealing with the threat.
2. Regional Powers in Maritime Security
Saudi Arabia has an important role as an upholder of maritime stability. The Kingdom relies on its security more on western states to contain the threat from Iran and this situation makes Saudi Arabia a central point of western presence in the Persian Gulf. But, the most important role of Saudi Arabia is keeping the security in the Red Sea, especially after the Somalia-Yemen incident and the Bab-el Mandeb Strait because this is the primary maritime line of communication for Saudi Arabia. This situation drives Saudi Arabia to increase its military capability and make cooperation with Egypt to contain any threat to the security of the strait and sea. This action was demonstrated with Saudi Arabia and Egypt’s support of the Yemeni government to against the rebels in Yemen, which has a significant impact on the security of the Red Sea and Bab-el Mandeb Strait.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are two important states in maritime regions with crucial roles. Both have a crucial impact by being a source of stability or instability on maritime security depending on their domestic and foreign policy. Iran has a dual role as an upholder of maritime stability in the Persian Gulf and as a state that constantly threatens the security in the Strait of Hormuz mainly about their nuclear program, which triggers the neighboring Arab states and western states to contain Iran. But the main issue with Iran’s role in the Persian Gulf is their dispute with Iraq over the delimitation of their maritime boundary in the Persian Gulf, also about the future of the oil rigs in the contested area. The situation escalated in an armed clash where several Iranian gunboats attacked the al-Mu’minah oilfield and after the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq, Iran sent military force to occupy Al-Faw Peninsula and this situation forced the states to have a bilateral talk and in every negotiation process, Iran always pushes Iraq to accept their terms. This situation triggers Iraq to make a “defensive agreement” with western states to contain Iran. These situations have a considerable impact on the maritime security in the Persian Gulf and it creates an image about Iran as a state that constantly threatens the security in the Persian Gulf.
2.1 Iran as a Regional Power
Iran is the only country to be discussed in this essay that has its power base primarily in the Persian Gulf. Its strategic importance stems from its long coastline to defend, and its geographic position astride the Gulf, at the very hub of the Indian Ocean, whose oil industry and exports its security is extremely keen to protect against conventional and unconventional threats. The secession of the southern states of the Gulf from Iran, especially the taking of the bulk of the proven oil reserves by Iraq led to a radical reconsideration of Iran’s strategic and security interests. The imposition of a regime by the West over the Iraqi state, and the latent and actual hostility of the new regime towards Iran, led to the perception that Iran needed a new comprehensive security strategy for the Gulf. Both the loss of Iranian territory to Iraq, and Iraq’s potential to destabilize Iran brought the security of the Gulf to the forefront of Iranian security policy. As a consequence of that not only did Iran develop its own comprehensive security strategy, but also denied by its own strategic interests and geographic realities the right of the Gulf region to be an exclusive security preserve for outside great powers. Iran has sought to actively improve its security environment through national and regional means measures influenced and controlled by Iran, and has taken an active interest in the political and security structure of the Gulf. With the end of the Cold War and actual or potential imperial retreats from the region by Russia and later the US, Iran has sought to further this effort and create a Gulf security structure void of the dominance of outside great powers in order to build an environment conducive to increase Iranian national security. This policy has been received with mixed feelings by its Gulf neighbors and the US. However, a comprehensive discussion of Iran’s policy in this regard and the counter strategies of the Gulf States is beyond the scope of this essay.
2.2 Saudi Arabia as a Regional Power
Saudi Arabia is one of the key actors in the Persian Gulf and has taken a special interest in maritime security since 2004 when the issue of security was discussed for the first time in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Royal Saudi Navy, coast guard, and air force are equipped with some of the most advanced weapon systems in the world, and Saudi Arabia has indicated willingness to lead security initiatives in the past. However, Saudi Arabia is also one of the world’s greatest oil exporters, and it is the fear of increased militarization of the Gulf and the potential for increased Iranian influence in a security framework that has led Saudi Arabia to increase security ties with western states in an effort to balance against Iran. Saudi Arabia perceives a multifaceted security threat and would prefer alliance security involving external guarantors over self-help measures in order to mitigate the risk that Gulf states may act alone and against each other in a security dilemma. This is largely due to Saudi Arabia’s dependence on western security assurances to protect oil exports and revenue, and in the most extreme scenario, the regime itself. An incident in 2004 in which suspected al-Qaida militants attacked an M/V off the Saudi coast demonstrated awareness that non-state actors could target Saudi infrastructure. This could increase the probability of Saudi Arabia’s willingness to deploy naval assets to protect its infrastructure and share intelligence with other GCC states in an ISPS-like initiative to protect the global economy upon which Saudi Arabia is reliant.
3. Challenges in International Cooperation
The security rivalry between India and Pakistan has also been an inhibiting factor for regional cooperation, including maritime security in South Asia. With the onset of nuclear weaponization by both states, security dilemmas have intensified, leading to frequent military clashes. Due to the existing and potential security threats in areas such as the Malacca straits and Andaman Sea, there have been calls for India and Pakistan to take the security of this region into their dual bilateral dialogue framework. However, this is far from desirable for other littoral states sharing security concerns in this maritime area due to India and Pakistan’s reluctance to involve other regional countries in the matter.
One of the factors is political differences and rivalries. Many of the political differences and rivalries between countries in Asia are essentially based on historical enmities. This is particularly true for the countries of Northeast Asia, such as Japan, China, the two Koreas, and Russia. In the post-Cold War era, there was an emphasis on reconciliation between Japan and both Koreas. The first and second Japan-ROK and Japan-DPRK summit meetings were held in the year 2000. However, improved political relations between the countries did not last long. The new Koizumi cabinet’s approval of the history textbook that was considered as glossing over Japan’s past aggression to its neighbors resulted in the cancellation of summit meetings. Anti-Japanese demonstrations took place in Seoul and Pusan. Then came the disputes over Takeshima island between Japan and ROK and the Yasukuni shrine issue. The joint visit by Koizumi and ROK President to the shrine provoked criticism and anger around East Asia. This eventually led to the suspension of regional security talk initiatives between Japan and ROK.
International cooperation in any area, including the realm of security, is almost never free of challenges. This holds true for maritime security in Asia. Despite facing several security challenges, regional countries have been slow in moving towards a security structure that involves cooperative conflict resolution and comprehensive, commonly agreed security arrangements. Several complex factors contribute to this situation.
3.1 Political Differences and Rivalries
India and Pakistan have been historical antagonists, with a steady increase in tensions between the two nuclear-armed states since the 2001-2002 stand-off. Heightened pressures on the Indian-Pakistani front have induced Pakistan to move its fleet from solely focusing on the Indian Ocean maritime security aspect to a more balanced approach between the Indian Ocean and the Pakistan-India sea front.
The continued enlargement of NATO in the post-Cold War era has triggered irritations and security dilemmas in Russia. Moscow sees the organization of US-led multilateral and bilateral military exercises in the Black and Baltic Seas as a potential threat to Russian security. US-Russian divergences over the Iranian and North Korean nuclear issues, China and the Taiwan Straits, and the halt on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty have had implications on global and regional security, particularly in the maritime sense.
Regional powers have aligned themselves with antagonistic partners. China, for example, has shown support for military ventures and economic trading with Myanmar. The United States, on the other hand, has remained critical of the Myanmar government and has called for military sanctions and an arms embargo on the junta. The US-China rivalry has become more pronounced in the Indian Ocean since 2008. Strategic mistrust has been exacerbated in no small part due to the prevailing global uncertainties and plunging Sino-US relations.
3.2 Historical Conflicts and Tensions
Characteristic of an age-old enmity, historical conflicts and tensions have deep roots and are not easily forgotten. These enmities pose serious obstacles for any form of cooperation and may be rekindled if greater mutual understanding is not achieved. Historians may provide a wealth of examples including Anglo-French rivalry, a series of wars between the Persian and Ottoman Empires, and Sino-Japanese wars. The failure to resolve legacy issues and emotions arising from historical events has often marred attempts to cooperate in institutions such as ASEAN where Indonesia and Malaysia had disputes over the nature of Konfrontasi and territorial waters. The potential for history to determine the level of cooperation can be seen in South America. Despite no history of warfare, many Latin American states spend large amounts on defense due to a prevailing culture of mistrust and territorial disputes that can be traced back to colonial rivalries. An example of how mutual security interests can help to alleviate historical tensions can be found in the case of the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France in 1904 which settled a number of colonial disputes and was designed to counter the growing power of Germany.
One of the most significant factors in determining the potential for cooperation is the level of polarity in the international system. Hegemonic stability theory suggests that international stability can be maintained during periods of a unipolar or bipolar systems with the Cold War often being cited as a period of relative peace and cooperation due to the dominance of the USA and USSR. In multipolar systems where there is no clear leader or alliance, tensions and conflict are more likely. The prevalence of historic enmities is often high during such periods as states form alliances to balance against perceived threats. An example can be seen in the First World War which was caused by a complex web of alliances and an arms race between Britain and Germany.
3.3 Security Concerns and Threats
States with unresolved disputes or claims in the maritime domain represent some of the most serious threats to security and stability in regional seas, especially when those are backed by a specific claim to maritime jurisdiction or resources. UNCLOS provides a framework for conflict resolution, but many disputes fall outside the auspices of the convention where it does not readily apply general principles to specific disputes and in the absence of reference to a specific court or tribunal, it does not provide a concrete dispute resolution mechanism to which conflicting states must submit to. 272 In many cases unilateral actions by conflicting states or agreements with other claimants effectively freeze the dispute on terms that are advantageous only to the acting state. This can lead to extralegal use of force or coercion and acts which can harm the maritime security of other states. 272 The prevalence of territorial disputes and general lack of conflict resolution mechanisms are a key factor which cause failure of cooperative initiatives in security and resource protection in several regions. E.g. Southeast Asia.
Anthasekaram S. Security Concerns and Threats. Tensions and conflicts in many regions still persist despite the lack of overt warfare. Long-term arms build-ups pose threats to regional security balances, including particularly the prevalence of arms races, whether conventional or asymmetrical, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. 271 Large-scale arms acquisitions invariably heighten regional tensions and lead to increased potential for conflict. Not only are they driven by regional insecurities, often they exacerbate them. The possession of modern military technology, particularly in the naval and aerospace fields, can enable smaller states to develop power projection capabilities well beyond their own regions, posing wider security concerns. Rapid military modernization and the speed with which conflicts can escalate highlight the need to manage security concerns before they escalate into threats or use of force.
4. Opportunities for International Cooperation
Following the Asian financial crisis and more recent terror attacks which have impacted on some Southeast Asian states, there has been an expressed desire to avoid these problems recurring. This may further provide an opportunity for regional powers to engage in preventative diplomacy and conflict management, in an attempt to inhibit security threats from escalating and to try and resolve extant security problems. Such interests and objectives lead to the essential question of how to engage in cooperative action to manage and resolve security threats? Having identified shared interests and concerns, regional powers will need to thoroughly consider the utilization of various preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution methods. While there are differences as to their specific utility and applicability to different security threats, all have potential to further the cause of maritime security.
The prospect exists that despite the divergent nature of security threats throughout the Asian region, regional powers may possess shared interests and objectives in seeing the maritime security environment improved. This could range from an aversion to the burden of increased military spending in an attempt to offset traditional and non-traditional security threats, to a genuine desire to thwart security threats and maintain the freedom of navigation and trade. In realizing this opportunity, it may be beneficial for regional powers to pursue dialogue on the full range of security threats in order to process the extent of shared interests in seeing these security threats reduced. This could be done bilaterally or via established track two methods. By identifying shared interests and security threats that have the potential to impact on all states in the region, there may be greater impetus and possibility for cooperation within a region characterized by its divergent security concerns. United States-Singapore Maritime Cooperation Unprecedented New Opportunities, Defence Secretary says shared interests and threats will form the basis for enhanced cooperation with Singapore.
Section 4 presents a brief overview of the diverse opportunities available for regional powers to contemplate in order to enhance maritime security. Opportunities in this instance insinuate the potential for beneficial gains which will serve to further the cause of maritime security, by either preventing the escalation of security threats, or by providing a mechanism to manage and resolve such issues.
4.1 Shared Interests and Objectives
An often overlooked outcome of globalization is the interconnectedness of issues and their effect on blurring the lines of domestic and international policy. For instance, environmental degradation is now seen as a major international security issue. This is due to the effects of global warming having the potential to drastically change natural landscapes and economies, which in turn has the potential to create a vast number of climate refugees and internally displaced persons. All this would require costly adaptation and potential conflict over scarce resources. In this sense, it is not difficult to imagine the effects of climate change mirroring the same processes that turned resource scarcity into world war during the first half of the 20th century. The issue of global warming and the security of future generations is one of many shared concerns between the industrialized nations and the developing world. The causes of environmental degradation are based in modernity and development, something the developing world has only recently achieved and the industrialized world continues to maintain. Thus it is in the interests of the developing world not to repeat the mistakes of the past and the industrialized world to resolve said issues in a sustainable manner. This provides ample opportunity for North-South cooperation, and cooperation between developed states on environmental and resource security issues. As a result, it has been pro paper owl example thesis topics in demonstrated that the USA and China have already engaged in issue linkages over climate change and Taiwan. An issue linkage has been established between climate change and the security of Middle Eastern oil, and environmental terrorism and the safety of Americans at home and abroad. The nature of these issue linkages has the potential to result in Sino-American cooperation on environmental and resource security issues.
This section will illustrate how some nations’ state interests and objectives become conducive for cooperation. This is penultimate in the process of cooperative security, as coalitions and collaboration are often borne from identifying similar goals in response to a perceived threat. This was the case with the United States and the Soviet Union during WWII, despite deep mistrust and suspicion, both states perceived the Nazi threat to be the greater risk to their security. The same could be said for the Grand Alliance of the First World War. Today, the potential for shared objectives to result in cooperation is most evident in the war on terror. For the purposes of this paper, shared interests and objectives will focus largely on issue linkage and the creation of common security identities, using primarily constructivist frameworks.
4.2 Economic Cooperation and Trade
Cooperation starts with consultation and the willingness to appreciate the concerns of others in order to enforce collective action. This, in essence, is the premise of the forum highlighted by so many of the region’s leaders and is the aim of international cooperation. If this is accepted, then the problems regarding overlapping claims can be solved through bilateral and multilateral negotiations, a more viable option than a preventative security dilemma that can have haphazard results on security. Economic concern is the cornerstone of this forum and is the second consideration regarding international cooperation. The economic benefits of cooperation are many and varied. They might involve cooperation over reducing the scale of military spending or they might aim to establish a more secure strategic environment conducive to growth and development. Confidence-building measures often hold an economic incentive such as increased people-to-people contacts whereby sharing and understanding can be implemented or the disaster management program where a region-wide approach demands assistance from neighboring countries. Economic progress in recent times has led to regionalization of effort to also solve security dilemmas in regions such as the ARF in ASEAN, a positive move by many non-traditional security actors in the right direction regarding the feasibility of cooperative security. Finally, there are synergy benefits where cooperation on one security issue can lead to automatic cooperation of another because they are interlinked.
While in theory, collective security and preventive diplomacy are possible, successful examples have been few and far between. This may be a realist viewpoint, but the idealist approach often lacks the understanding of the gravity and main objectives of the conflicting parties involved. This debate typically centers on what is the best option for providing security in the region? Whether it is in the best interest to seek third-party intervention or for the conflicting parties to privately sort the issue themselves. Military defense is often seen as the best protection of a country’s sovereignty and security interests. In this belief, there is the option for defense agreements and alliances. A recent study has shown significant results beginning with the correlation between defense pacts and the reduction of dyadic conflict in the post-WWII era through collective security measures. Economic sanctions have been viewed as a tool of last resort, mostly due to the fear of backlash with the unrestricted sanction often having negative humanitarian effects. This was the case leading up to WWII with Japan raising the issue of the oil embargo against the US and similar sanctions placed on Italy.
4.3 Multilateral Initiatives and Organizations
It is difficult to measure the precise impact and success of smaller regional maritime security capacity-building initiatives. They are, by nature, medium to long-term projects and underpinned by rather modest resource allocations when compared to the nature and scale of maritime security problems in the regions concerned. Moreover, maritime security is often a peripheral issue to the more immediate concerns of state and regime security from internal challenges and tensions between rival neighboring states. More tangible outcomes have been achieved from addressing specific issue areas. An example is the considerable headway made in the suppression of the piracy off the coast of Somalia through the efforts of a coalition-based task force and various capacity-building initiatives aimed at the Somali state and regional littoral states. Much of the success here has been enabled by the narrower nature of the problem and common interest shared by major and regional powers in reducing the piracy, which represents a threat to the freedom of navigation in a vital trade route.
Smaller international cooperative arrangements have been initiated to address various maritime security concerns, especially from 2004 onwards. These moves can be expected to reduce pressures on the major powers to contribute unilaterally and provide the context in which major power contributions are legitimate and non-threatening to other major powers. Primarily, these initiatives have come from the major powers seeking to bolster the maritime security capacity of states in regions of strategic importance to their own security interests. For example, in 2004, Australia announced a regional security initiative aimed at building security capacity in the South Pacific, and in 2005, the US announced a similar initiative for the Western Indian Ocean. To the extent that these initiatives are multilateral and open to scrutiny from other states, they may serve to reassure other major powers that regional security capacity building is benign and not aimed at excluding their presence or influence. One of the more ambitious and potentially far-reaching moves has been the Indian-led initiative to promote the concept of a security architecture in the Indian Ocean in which extra-regional major powers coalesce with the security interests of littoral states. The initiative is directed at conducting a series of discussions that would identify common security interests, threats, and challenges, and their potential solutions. This would provide a forum to build a shared awareness of the security interests of different states and reduce mistrust and misperception concerning the security intentions of other states. If successful in these regards, it would lay the foundations for the conduct of cooperative security activities.