A Peaceful ocean?

Maritime issues dominate the security agenda in the Pacific in the 1990s. A large number of the key states in the region are islands, archipelagoes or peninsulas. Seaborne trade is growing rapidly and is of critical importance to almost all regional states. In the past decade the spread of 200 mile exclusive economic zones throughout the region has created new missions for regional navies. In part for this reason, regional maritime forces are being modernised and expanded as defence budgets rise. Some analysts talk of a regional arms race; others prefer the less emotive term of 'arms build-up'. All agree that the region's strategic future is uncertain. The central theme of this volume is the enhancement of maritime security in the Asia-Pacific. 'Spontaneous' naval arms control - the budget-driven reductions in American and Russian naval forces - and the debate within the region for and against naval arms control and confidence-building regimes are among the issues discussed. Maritime confidence-building measures, like the 1972 US-USSR 'Incidents at Sea Agreement' and the 1989 Prevention of Dangerous Military Activities agreement, are analysed in detail and their applicability to the region is considered. The major part of the book is taken up with analyses of the maritime security policies of regional states - China, Japan, Russia, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. The question of naval cooperation as a means of enhancing regional security is examined and re-examined throughout the study. Most authors are cautiously optimistic that progress can be achieved.