Maritime Security Challenges Research Articles

Russia and Asia-Pacific Security: The Maritime Dimension

Russia is shifting its foreign policy focus to the Asia-Pacific region because of internal (the necessity to develop Siberia and the Far East) and external (a deepening crisis in relations with the West) factors. For this policy to be a success, Russia needs a stable and predictable regional milieu while confrontation in Asia-Pacific security is on the rise. Evidence for this assessment is provided by the current state of regional maritime security challenges. They are evolving at a faster pace than the regional mechanisms and institutions aimed to keep them within manageable bounds. The simultaneous rise of the global dimension in the main challenges to Asia-Pacific maritime security — primarily the set of issues related to the South China Sea — call for the increased involvement of an established global actor with significant economic potential, independent foreign policy and genuine interest in preserving peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. In the current circumstances, this role cannot but be assumed by Russia. The paper discusses the specificity of current Asia-Pacific maritime security trends, Russia’s regional priorities and policy instruments which could be used to decrease tensions in the key regional maritime security challenges

Current Maritime Security Challenges: A Study on Crisis Management at Sea

Current Maritime Security Challenges: A Study on Crisis Management at Sea

Communities of Security Practice at Work? The Emerging African Maritime Security Regime

ABSTRACT Maritime security has been a long-neglected issue on the African security agenda. This situation is changing incrementally, not the least because of the attention to the problem of piracy in the continent's waters. The “piracy momentum” has led to a significant intensification of maritime security cooperation. This article analyzes current processes, strategies, and institutional responses to maritime security challenges. Drawing on a practice-theoretical constructivist reading of regime convergence, this article investigates how continental actors interact, develop a common repertoire, and engage in joint enterprises to address maritime security challenges. It argues that several nascent transnational collectives are developing that can be interpreted as providing the nucleus of maritime security communities.

Securing Maritime Australia: Developments in Maritime Surveillance and Security

A long coastline and extensive maritime claims mean that Australia benefits from and has responsibility for an enormous maritime jurisdiction. Within this offshore area Australia faces significant, varied, and complex maritime security and ocean policy challenges. In response, Australia has taken a number of innovative steps toward enhancing its maritime security. This article will review Australia's past practice together with some of the more recent developments in this context, particularly efforts to enhance offshore maritime surveillance and enforcement, such as the creation of the Taskforce on Offshore Maritime Security and Border Protection Command, establishment of the Australian Maritime Identification System, and implementation of augmented security patrols.

An Alternative of the System Approach to Functional Aspects Analysis of the Maritime Crisis Management System

When answering the question “What kind of Maritime Crisis Management System (MCMS) do we need?” a useful tool is provided by the system approach. The traditional system approach, presented by the sequence “system goal (goals) definition – goal supporting strategy development – system technology and structure elaboration,” is not applicable to the process of MCMS analysis due to many reasons. The paper proposes an alternative method to study the MCMS functional aspects. The proposed approach describes the functioning of MCMS on the background of the Maritime Security Negative Factors (MSNF) evolution. The MSNF evolution is represented as a life cycle that follows the sequence: “emergence of maritime security challenges – evolution to risks – formation of threats.” The MCMS functioning is described by “Observation – Orientation – Decision – Action” (OODA) loops performed by the system in reaction to the negative factors and their evolution.

Southeast Asia's naval forces

Southeast Asian states face an unprecedented range of maritime security challenges, but the new naval capabilities that they are attempting to develop – at great cost – are not always relevant to the most acute threats. These are increasingly generated by non-state actors, rather than rival states. To respond to these concerns effectively, some Southeast Asian states might need to invest less in developing capabilities based on large, guided-missile equipped warships and submarines and more in coast-guard type forces equipped with large numbers of relatively inexpensive patrol vessels.