Managing the Great Powers in Southeast Asia

Introduction to the Special Forum

The tension around the South China Sea has shown no sign of diminishing. China keeps flexing its muscles, as aircraft land on newly built runways on artificial islands and warnings are issued to any who dare to traverse close by. The United States is increasingly clear about its willingness to use a show of force to defend freedom of navigation. On January 30, a US navy destroyer demonstrated this..

Editorial Staff

February 22,2016

Southeast Asian Strategies toward the Great Powers: Still Hedging after All These Years?

Over the past two decades, our understanding of how the relatively small states of Southeast Asia engage in great power management has grown significantly. The tendency during the early 1990s to view Southeast Asian policymakers as having “no strategy” has been replaced by a small industry of scholars and analysts explicating Southeast Asian strategies towards the great powers. By the mid-2000..

Evelyn Goh

Global War on Terror , South China Sea , Strategic engagement , Triangular hedging

February 22,2016

Vietnam’s Management of China’s Maritime Assertiveness in the Post-Cold War Period

1In May 2014, China deployed a giant oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HYSY 981), and a flotilla of more than 100 vessels to the area that Vietnam claims as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).2 Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh protested loudly, declaring that “all necessary measures” would be taken to protect his country’s legitimate rights.3 Quite the reverse, in a speech at the 2014 Shangri-La Di..

Do Thanh Hai*

code of conduct , Haiyang Shiyou 981 , Paracels , South China Sea , Spratlys , Vietnam-China relations

February 22,2016

Developing Indonesia’s Maritime Strategy under President Jokowi

1As the “Jokowi’” Joko Widodo administration implements the “Global Maritime Fulcrum” (Poros Maritim Dunia, PMD) concept,2 how does Indonesia develop its maritime strategy to achieve the concept’s policy goals? This article argues that the PMD’s overall success depends on the development of a coherent maritime strategy. To that end, I discuss four areas..

Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto

archipelagic sea lane (ASL) , Jokowi administration , Poros Maritim Dunia (PMD) Concept , South China Sea , UNCLOS

February 22,2016

Myanmar and Maritime Security

Discussions of security challenges to Myanmar’s past governments have tended to focus on land-based threats, primarily insurgencies associated with ethnic armed organizations.1 This does not mean, though, that Myanmar is unconcerned about questions of maritime security. This is underscored for instance by the expansion of Myanmar’s Navy (Tatmadaw Yay) since the State Law and Order ..

Jürgen Haacke

EEZ , ITLOS , Maritime boundary

February 22,2016

Australia and Asia’s Maritime Disputes: Continuity amidst Chaos

For a relatively distant country with no territorial claims, Australia has been a remarkably vocal presence around the East and South China Sea disputes. Canberra issued arguably the strongest rebuke of any capital when it called in the Chinese ambassador and released a robust public statement following Beijing’s November 2013 declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) ove..

Brendon Taylor

ANZUS , Darwin Port , Turnbull administration