Quad coast guards in the Indo-Pacific: informal networked regional governance through practice transfer

Introduction. Under the influence of globalization and regionalization; the world economic development is becoming more dynamic but contradictory at the same time; creating new challenges and threats for both individual countries and entire regions. This exacerbates the urgency of forming flexible systems of security cooperation and finding solutions to regional and global security problems.Purpose. The purpose of the paper is to systematize research on regional and global security governance and a review of the balance of geopolitical forces in Europe.Methods. The research was carried out using the following methods: analysis and synthesis – to characterize the modern mainstream of theoretical intelligence in the field of regional security; comparative analysis – to compare the structures of regional security management in different parts of the world; deductions and inductions – to form a conceptual model of global governance; tabular and visual methods – for visual presentation of the material.Results. The paper considers theoretical approaches to the interpretation of regional security. It is noted that regional security governance is a set of institutions and activities at three levels: global; regional and national. A nomenclature of different types of regional security governance structures is presented; which includes a regional balance of power and ad hoc (informal) alliances; regional coherence; regional cooperative security; regional collective defense; regional collective security; pluralistic security community. It has been recognized that regional security management is provided not only by highly specialized or formal structures; but also by multi-purpose regional organizations; which initially pursued a combination of economic and political goals with growing security targets. Conceptual options for regional security governance at the global and regional levels are systematized. Based on the analysis of the mechanisms of global management; own vision of the relationship between the subjects of global governance processes is presented.Discussion. The crisis of recent decades has shown that no single group of global governance actors can act effectively to minimize global risks; which are both a challenge for business leaders and politicians in any country. That is why it is undeniable that global issues require global governance (especially in the field of security); the main goal of which should be to ensure global stability and sustainable development.

There is no doubt that the geostrategic position of South Africa places it centrally beside major trade routes to the East and the West – a point that has been emphasized over the years by South Africa’s political leadership as well as the top commanding echelons of the South African Navy (SAN). Furthermore, there is general agreement among South Africa’s political leaders and naval commanders that good ocean governance is important for regional security. However, the SAN’s share of the defence budget had been steadily shrinking from a peak of 17 per cent in 1977 to about 7 per cent in the mid-1990s. This is linked to a political landscape where acute socio-economic needs and extremely high levels of unemployment in the country are the order of the day. Still, the SAN maintained effectiveness and efficiency and an ability not normally associated with small navies. Yet, limited spending on defence in general and the SAN in particular has become a matter of great concern to the SAN, as there has been a growing political-strategic requirement for the SAN to be active in regional security governance and to participate in multinational maritime operations of a non-offensive nature in the African context. For the SAN it thus became a challenge of mandate versus means or political-strategic ambition versus financial affordability. This chapter aims to focus on the following: firstly, the way South Africa views its national interests in relation to regional maritime security; and secondly, the political-economic challenges and constraints relating to the role of the SAN with regard to regional maritime (in)security.

The changing nature of threats in international relations has largely surpassed the capacity of individual states to efficiently perform their traditional task of providing security to their citizens. While globalization and the proliferation of non-state actors have stimulated economic growth and democratization worldwide, they have also set the conditions for pandemics and economic and financial crises and opened a window of opportunity for organized crime and international terrorism. The fall-out of these circumstances, together with the threats emanating from failed and failing states, and general difficulties in determining the origin and targets of threats, have affected the ability of single states to either meet or effectively deal with these threats. As a consequence, states have opted for greater regional or international security cooperation through either bilateral or multilateral means. The steady rise or remit expansion of international organizations provides ample evidence of such a shift in state behavior (Tavares 2010). However, in part due to difficulties encountered by the United Nations (UN) (e.g. veto power by individual states), global security governance has been more difficult to advance than regional security governance. But, despite the UN’s deficiencies as a global security provider, its role of encouraging, supporting and legitimating regional organizations in the provisions of security should not be underestimated (Thakur and Van Langenhove 2006: 235). Regional organizations have therefore taken on a more prominent role as regional security governance providers, but the degree to which they can actually deliver collectively remains also largely an empirical question.

This paper analyses the role of Mexico as security provider or source of insecurity through the analysis of regional security governance. It argues that in contrast with other countries in the region such as Brazil, which has displayed policies aimed at building a node of regional security, Mexico has become a reluctant regional security provider as a result of its traditional historical inward looking roots and the inherent state weaknesses augmented by the current instability in the area of security. This paper looks into four categories of security governance (assurance, prevention, protection and compellence) in order to evaluate the role of Mexico in the context of regional security. Part of the task of this paper will be to explore the extent in which Mexico carries out one or more of these dimensions and the extent in which it contributes to regional (collective) security governance.

The purpose of this article is to analyse NATO’s security roles as a significant contribution to the development of a rules-based international order and the establishment of an effective framework for global and regional governance in the 21st century. Central to this study is an examination of the evolving roles NATO has adopted in recent decades, some of which were articulated during the Alliance’s founding in 1949, while others have emerged from the post-Cold War strategic transformations. The article is premised on a clear semantic distinction between the concepts of “international order” and “global governance”, arguing that the various forms of security governance associated with NATO’s roles collectively reinforce the creation and maintenance of a rules-based international order. This order is explicitly framed in NATO’s strategic concepts, which emphasise collective defence, crisis management, and cooperative security as foundational to the Alliance’s mission and its engagement in global and regional security governance. By exploring these dynamics, the article sheds light on how NATO continues to adapt and contribute to international stability, balancing traditional defence responsibilities with emerging security challenges in a complex geopolitical environment.

Understanding Maritime Security provides a concise introduction to the history and evolution of security issues at sea and their corresponding solutions. It equips maritime security analysts, professionals, and students with the necessary knowledge to comprehend maritime security in its entirety. The authors provide a history of maritime security and show how analytical frameworks, including legal analyses, international relations theory, securitization, practice theory, and root cause analysis help to understand maritime security. Key issues of the maritime security agenda are discussed in depth. These include interstate conflicts, terrorism, and grey-zone warfare, as well as blue crimes such as piracy, smuggling, and illicit fishing. The book shows the range of actors involved in maritime security and details the repertoire of maritime security solutions, such as maritime security governance, strategies, information sharing, coordination, and capacity-building. The authors also analyze future trends and show how the critical infrastructure agenda, emerging technologies, cyber security, climate change, biodiversity loss, and the resurgence of geopolitics impact maritime security. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in security and the sea. It is essential reading for those aiming to pursue careers in navies, coast guards, maritime law enforcement, or security and risk analysis.

<p>Maritime security governance is crucial for Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago spread across a vast water area about the size of the United States. The existence of several law enforcement institutions to uphold Indonesian laws made governance and authority fractured and weak. Consequently, BAKAMLA was established to improve Indonesian maritime security governance by synergising and monitoring law enforcement at sea. Despite being supported politically by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, institutionally, BAKAMLA remains underperforming. This article discusses whether the existence of BAKAMLA fulfils Indonesia’s political and security needs to have an integrated coast guard institution. The article considers relevant literature and the research phase employed in-depth interviews with stakeholders of Indonesia’s law enforcement officers at sea. This article concludes that BAKAMLA is still relevant if significant adjustments are made to institutional empowerment by revising and harmonising relevant laws. Such revision reflects the aspirations of political support and will from the Indonesian government to BAKAMLA.</p>

Regional security in South America cannot be explained simply by considering balance of power or security-community governance mechanisms. In this article, we present and discuss a hybrid security-governance approach for talking about governance security in the Americas, particularly, South America. We hypothesize that there exists a new security-governance configuration in which the traditional governance mechanisms—balance of power and security community—are not mutually exclusive, but overlap and coexist, leading to the emergence of a regional hybrid security architecture. Beyond explaining the reasons and causes for the overlap between security community and balance of power, we show the hybrid nature of regional security governance and point out how taking the hybridity conceptual approach fills the gaps within current research. We first offer a critique of two leading approaches to thinking about security in the Americas (balancing and security communities). Next, we show how the overlapping configurations in South America's regional security governance happen, testing Adler and Greve's (2009, “When Security Community Meets Balance of Power: Overlapping Regional Mechanisms of Security Governance.” Review of International Studies 35[S1]: 59–84) framework against historical evidence. Last, we provide evidence of a hybrid security governance in the region. We complement our analysis with qualitative data from interviews with scholars, political, diplomatic, and military actors conducted in various countries across the region. Our contribution is a significant step toward understanding how security-governance formations come about in non-Western regions of the world, privileging its specificities. More importantly, we offer a novel angle to escape straitjacket hypotheses to security governance grounded in Western hegemonic ideal types, which have focus either on balance of power or on security-community models.

Security discourse in contemporary times has brought to the fore the relevance of regions as indispensable loci for analysing, understanding and managing security challenges across many spaces of the globe. In the process of deepening this discursive analysis of regional security, scholars have developed a few concepts. Two of these analytical concepts are ‘security complexes’ and ‘regional security governance’. However, extant literature rarely examines the conceptual and empirical interplay between these two constructs. It is on this note that this article asks: how are security complexes and security governance impacting one another? To what extent could their pragmatic interactions shape the choice of regional organisations that will coordinate joint security undertakings? It argues that while it is the formation of security complexes from a trans-state perspective that will generate the necessity for regional security governance, the dissolution of such a complex equally demands an effective orchestration of regional security governance. The article also contends that the spatial scope of a trans-state security complex is a central factor for determining the appropriateness of the regional organisation that will coordinate its security governance project. It specifically draws on empirical evidence from West Africa to bolster these arguments.

: The United States Coast Guard is a unique instrument of national security because of its multi-mission character as an armed force, law enforcement agency, and regulatory agency for maritime transportation. This multi-mission character is more relevant since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and as the Coast Guard undertakes its assigned role as the Lead Federal Agency for Maritime Security. The Coast Guard faces major challenges in executing its responsibilities and must leverage the capabilities of its specially trained boarding teams, small boat security forces, and hazardous materials response teams. However, the operational control, training, and doctrine of these specially trained forces are unfortunately fragmented. Furthermore, shipping is an inherently global venture, with thousands of ships operating under flags of convenience with little or no oversight by their national registries. Moreover, ports have traditionally been open to ensure the free flow of goods in international commerce. While major efforts are being undertaken to shore up international port security, many nations do not have the infrastructure, oversight, or response capability necessary for meaningful improvements. These realities require the Coast Guard to have a robust international program for cooperative security training and joint operations that can best be executed by an enhanced maritime capability, not unlike those forces conducting foreign internal defense and civil affairs assigned to the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

The Coast Guard is responsible for protecting the marine environment, promotingthe safety of life and property, and ensuring security on the U.S. OuterContinental Shelf (OCS). Based on authorities provided under the OuterContinental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the Coast Guard regulates facilities, MODUs, and vessels engaged in or supporting OCS activities. The tragic loss oflife and environmental disaster resulting from the Macondo incident in April2010 focused significant attention on the U.S. OCS, where industry employs tensof thousands of U.S. mariners and offshore workers on over 4,100 U.S. andforeign flagged facilities and vessels engaged in oil and gas exploration andproduction activities. Though the Macondo incident was not initiated by failures within areas of CoastGuard jurisdiction and the Coast Guard-regulated safety systems generallyperformed well under the extreme conditions, the Coast Guard is reviewing itsregulatory construct and seeking " lessons learned" from this tragic incident. Acontemporary and effective regulatory regime needs to be maintained andconsistently applied to all vessels and facilities engaged in operations on theU.S. OCS. This paper discusses the Coast Guard's regulatory approach for effectivelymitigating the risk to people, property, and the environment on the U.S.continental shelf. It includes recent work to keep pace with the rapidlyevolving technology employed on the OCS and efforts to ensure contemporary andsensible safety standards are promulgated and enforced. U.S. Coast Guard Authority and Regulatory Construct on the OCS The U.S. Coast Guard, within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), hasbroad authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to regulatethe safety of life and property on facilities and vessels engaged in OCSactivities, and the safety of navigation. In addition, the Coast Guard isresponsible for promoting workplace safety and health by enforcing requirementsrelated to personnel, workplace activities, and conditions and equipment on theU.S. OCS. The Coast Guard is also responsible for security regulations on OCSfacilities, as specified under the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), and has select duties for regulating deepwater ports as enumerated in theDeepwater Ports Act (DPA), as amended. Other regulatory agencies, such as theBureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) also share jurisdictionover OSC activities. This paper will focus primarily on the Coast Guard role inregulating the safety of facilities and vessels engaged in OCS activities.

Energy transition requires action from different levels of government. While the national and local level have received ample scholarly attention, thus far little attention has been paid to the regional level. This is remarkable because policy makers across Europe are wondering what governance of regional transition actually is and how to shape and implement it. In the present paper, this concern is addressed. The research questions are, “What does regional governance of energy transition entail? How can it be conceptualized? And what does it mean in practice?” The questions are answered by presenting the results of a multi-disciplinary literature study, presenting a conceptual framework on governance of regional energy transition, using insights from innovation and transition studies as well as from the regional and network governance literature, and applying this to the illustrative case of the West-Brabant region in The Netherlands. West-Brabant is a relatively large region and was home to a pilot that involved the development of a regional energy strategy. Data collection involved twenty expert interviews, text documents and participative observation in workshops. Results highlight the relevance of each of the key elements of the conceptual governance framework. However, some are particularly relevant like structural characteristics of the regional actor network, actor characteristics, and regional governance arrangements used. The results reveal commonalities with regional governance in other policy domains. This paper contributes to the literature on polycentric governance of energy transition and climate change mitigation, and concludes with the presentation of a research agenda.

Providing regional and global security governance is both increasingly common and controversial in Germany. The paper addresses the sources of current controversies in three areas: First, legal limits that emanate from the delegation of competences in regional and international institutions. Secondly, financial limits which have become even more prevalent since the inception of the Euro-Crisis. And thirdly, political limits which refer to the erosion of the cross-partisan consensus in German coalition governments that the country must play a prominent, if not a leadership role in European security governance and beyond.

Chinese city governments have collaborated increasingly to address regional environmental issues by participating in informal and formal collaborative networks. However, collaboration among cities involves collaboration risks. This study investigates how cities strategically select collaborative partners in informal and formal networks in the context of the Yangtze River Delta in China. This study addresses this question by assessing the nature of collaborative problems in the informal and formal networks, the extent of homophily in actors’ preferences, and their relationship multiplexity. Findings from Exponential Random Graph Analysis demonstrate: (1) city governments tend to connect to the popular actor and create relationship closure in the informal network, while only forging relationship closure in the formal network; (2) homophily (in water pollution) and heterogeneity (in air pollution) jointly affect city governments’ choices of collaborative partners in the formal network; and (3) the presence of relationship multiplexity wherein the formation of formal ties is built between city governments with pre-existing informal interactions. The findings advance our knowledge of collaborative partner selection and local collaborative governance in China.

1. Researching Regional Security Governance: Dimensions, Debates and Discourses Shaun Breslin and Stuart Croft 2. Security Governance in the EU Space Jolyon Howorth 3. The Other Europe: Regional Security Governance in Europe's East Andrew Cottey 4. East Asian Regional Security Governance: Bilateral Hard Balancing and ASEAN's Informal Cooperative Security Hiro Katsumata 5. Regional Security Governance: The Case of South Asia Ted Svensson 6. Regional Security in Sub-Saharan Africa Paul Jackson 7. MENA Region: Security and Regional Governance Anoushiravan Ehteshami 8. Creating Multilevel Security Governance in South America Daniel Flemes and Michael Radseck 9. North American Regionalism in Defence Chris C. Demchak and Stefanie von Hlatky