Dr Samuel Bashfield1
1Australia India Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia
Biography:
Samuel Bashfield is an Australian Indo-Pacific security and defence policy researcher. In his current role as Research Fellow in Defence at the University of Melbourne’s Australia India Institute, he studies and interprets geopolitical and defence trends across the Indo-Pacific, with a particular focus on India, the Indian Ocean Region, maritime security and seabed issues. Sam is in the final stages of his PhD at the Australian National University’s National Security College. Sam regularly presents at industry events, government dialogues and to media to help inform debate and improve policy outcomes.
Abstract:
Amid global strategic competition, the US and partners are adopting increasingly interventionist roles in economies, including by encouraging firms to shift trade and supply chain networks to countries that share political values, also known as ‘friendshoring’. State intervention is increasingly dictating submarine cable network development. As the conduit for approximately 99% of digital communications globally, submarine cables are the backbone of the Internet and underpin our modern digital society. Proliferating concerns about the security of cable networks has seen the seabed increasingly subjected to attempts at sovereign control in ways that undermine the governance of this domain as a ‘global commons. This paper examines growing state intervention in seabed networks and the seabed. It illuminates the rationale for sovereign network control, the imperative of excluding ‘unfriendly’ state projects, attempts at seabed control as well as the proliferation of ‘like-minded’ networks amongst ‘Quad’ members. Using recent case studies, including the East Micronesia Cable as well as the SeaMeWe-6 network, this paper demonstrates how states are exerting sovereign control of the seabed through critical infrastructure. It also contributes to our broader understanding of dynamics of ‘friendshoring’ and the follow-on implications of this concept on maritime order and governance.