From Southeast Asia to the Gulf: Analysis of the Prospect of Indian Ocean Integration

Abstract

:The Indian Ocean is not only a geographic unit, but also a sub-system of the international system constructed within the interactions among the coastal countries. This article chooses the regional organizations as a variable to analyze the interactions among Indian Ocean coastal countries. With the empirical studies on the regional cooperation organizations, this article discloses the dynamics behind the regional integration between costal countries along the Indian Ocean Region. Six most representative regional cooperation organizations have been analyzed by this article, which are respectively the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), as well as Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). They could make purposive and rational decisions within the institutional constraints. Based on case studies and comparative analysis, this article suggests that there are four significantly different cooperation models among the coastal countries, and suggests not simply estimate the likely regional powers or organizations that would lead the construction of the regional cooperation, but the great importance of building the linkage among various regional cooperation institutions.