October 13, 2023
Can the Philippine Coast Guard Maintain Its Momentum?
The new PCG Commandant will be critical for sustaining reform and the Philippines’ maritime security approach.
October 9, 2023
China’s ‘blue dragon’ strategy in the Indo-Pacific
To compete strategically with the United States and undermine President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy, China has quietly been advancing its stealthy divide-and-conquer foreign policy agenda on four different but connected frontiers. The core of Beijing’s comprehensive plan can be described as a…
September 15, 2023
AUKUS brings more than nuclear submarines to Southeast Asia
The AUKUS agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia significantly shifts Australia’s defence strategy and future capabilities by providing the opportunity for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. But Australia will also receive advanced technologies under…
August 17, 2023
How ASEAN Can Win Its War Against Illegal and Unregulated Fishing
The Southeast Asian bloc has pledged to tackle the issue, but resources and coordination are lacking.
August 14, 2023
The Philippines’ high-stakes options at Second Thomas Shoal
The Philippine Coast Guard’s highlighting of China’s harassment of its vessels near Second Thomas Shoal has undoubtedly boosted sympathy for Manila in its David-versus-Goliath struggle to maintain jurisdiction and sovereignty in the South China Sea. Under daily challenge from Beijing, the…
August 10, 2023
Australia must speak up against Beijing’s bullying of the Philippines
Last weekend, China’s coastguard and maritime militia carried out dangerous and aggressive manoeuvres against a small Philippines boat, blocking and blasting it with a powerful water cannon.
August 10, 2023
Not just another naval exercise: Malabar’s vital messaging
US President Theodore Roosevelt once said, ‘A good navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace’. Those poignant words were uttered in 1902 but they have a distinct relevance to the era in which we find ourselves now.
August 9, 2023
South Korea’s role in Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness
In December 2022, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration released its “Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region” in which ROK will take a leading role as a “Global Pivotal State” to promote the freedom, peace, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific. To implement the strategy, the…
August 9, 2023
Australia needs an overarching maritime security strategy
Maritime security is a term that can mean almost anything. For many, it conjures images of big-ticket ‘hard security’ issues like military modernisation, island-building, freedom-of-navigation operations, maritime surveillance, grey-zone tactics and maritime militia.