Dr Troy Lee-Brown, Professor Bec Strating, Dr Edward Chan, Mr Justin Burke, Dr Chulanee Attanayake, Dr Michael O'Keefe, Ms Jennifer Parker
1University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Biography:
Troy Lee-Brown is a Research Fellow at UWA’s Defence and Security Institute and a researcher in regional security, maritime security and international relations with a focus on the Indo-Pacific.
Bec Strating is the Director of La Trobe Asia and a Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University. Her research focuses primarily on Asian regional security, maritime disputes, and Australian foreign and defence policy.
Edward Sing Yue Chan is a Postdoctoral Fellow in China Studies at the Australian Centre on China in the World, the Australian National University. He is also the Associate Editor of The China Journal and a non-residential Research Fellow at Sea Power Centre Australia.
Justin Burke is a Senior Policy Advisor at the National Security College, ANU. He was the 2022 Thawley Scholar in International Security at CSIS and the Lowy Institute and is also non-resident fellow at the Centre for Maritime Strategy and Security at the ISPK, Germany.
Chulanee Attanayake is a researcher with expertise in China and South Asia, Politics, Geopolitics, and Security in the Indo-Pacific, and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Relations. Her research focuses on maritime security and maritime sovereignty of small states, with special focus on underwater military technology development and its implications.
Jennifer Parker is an Expert Associate at National Security College, Australian National University and Adjunct Fellow in naval studies at University of New South Wales Canberra. Jennifer holds the position of Nancy Bentley Associate Fellow in Indo-Pacific Maritime Affairs at Council on Geostrategy.
Abstract:
This roundtable discussion centres on the recent book “Blue Security in the Indo-Pacific” (Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies Series, Routledge, 2024) edited by Troy Lee-Brown, Ian Hall and Bec Strating. This book advances a holistic conceptualisation of maritime security under the term ‘Blue Security’ and situates it in states across the Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific encompasses a vast space, incorporating two of the planet’s
biggest oceans, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, as well as littoral and hinterland states home to half the world’s population. Security challenges abound across the maritime Indo-Pacific, ranging from the risk of inter-state war at sea to so-called blue crimes, like piracy, smuggling, and illegal fishing. Climate change and marine pollution, as well as the over-exploitation of scarce, and sometimes fragile resources, also pose threats to human security, sustainability, and biodiversity. Using the concept of ‘Blue Security’, the book assesses these various challenges and analyses the approaches to their management used by Indo-Pacific states. It argues that we should embrace a holistic understanding of maritime security, incorporating national, regional, international, human, and environmental dimensions. To that end, it explores the Blue Security strategies of 18 Indo-Pacific states, examining their changing perceptions of threat, their approaches to managing those challenges, and their capabilities.