Feb 22,2016 Special Forum

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: the archipelagic […]

Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto
archipelagic sea lane (ASL) , Jokowi administration , Poros Maritim Dunia (PMD) Concept , South China Sea , UNCLOS
Oct 15,2015 Special Forum

Xi Jinping’s Impact on China’s Legal Development: Domestic and International

When Xi Jinping came to the United States for a state visit in September 2015, questions about China’s posture toward the rule of law, domestically and internationally, were scattered across Washington’s agenda. The perennial question of human rights had again become an urgent and law-related concern, with the crackdown on rights protection lawyers in mid-2015, […]

Jacques deLisle
Legalist repression , National identity , Rule of law , Top-down government , UNCLOS
Jul 31,2015 Special Forum

ASEAN’s Failing Grade in the South China Sea

Since around 2008, a worrying disconnect has been readily apparent in the South China Sea. On the one hand, competing claims to ownership of disputed atolls and their adjacent maritime space has led to growing discord between China and several countries in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam and the Philippines, and propelled the problem to the […]

Ian Storey
ASEAN unity , code of conduct , Regionalism , Spratly Islands , UNCLOS
Jul 31,2015 Special Forum

Malaysia’s “Special Relationship” with China and the South China Sea: Not So Special Anymore

MMEA Bombardier 415 Surveillance Flight over South Luconia Shoal, where Chinese Coast Guard Ships are reported to have established a permanent presence. June 2015 (Facebook) On June 2, 2015, Minister Shahidan bin Kassim held a press conference to announce an “intrusion” by a foreign vessel in the South Luconia Shoals (Beting Patinggi Ali, in Malay). […]

Scott Bentley
Malaysia , Reclamation , Regionalism , South Luconia Shoals , UNCLOS
Jul 31,2015 Special Forum

The South China Sea Disputes: Some Blindspots and Misperceptions

The South China Sea disputes have in recent years emerged as, arguably, the most contentious issue on the security agenda in Southeast Asia. Fueled by heated rhetoric, mutual distrust, perceptions and misperceptions, and nationalism, it has become the most extensively discussed subject in the literature on security challenges in Southeast Asia, with experts expressing different, […]

Liow Joseph Chinyong*
EEZ , intra-ASEAN disputes , Regionalism , UNCLOS , US security
Nov 22,2013 National Commentaries

US Perspective

"China and International Law/Norms: A US Perspective" China’s territorial disputes with its maritime neighbors have become the most contentious and high-profile elements in Beijing’s regional foreign policy—so much so that they overshadow and complicate other dimensions of its relations with the region. These quarrels have deep historical roots and have produced periodic crises and occasional […]

Jacques deLisle
Diaoyu/Senkaku , East China Sea , EEZ’s , PLA navy , Rebalancing , South China Sea , Southeast Asia , sovereignty , Taiwan , UNCLOS