The Indian Ocean as a New Political and Security Region

 This book analyses the emergence of the Indian Ocean as security complex and a strategic space of central importance and also looks at its prospective future. As well as US-China rivalry, the India-China rivalry is now the defining factor in the Indian Ocean – irrespective of the strategic asymmetry. This new situation has opened a space for middle-powers, old and new, to intervene. The authors argue that this situation may turn into an additional source of instability and that the creation of an inclusive and comprehensive regional security architecture, as well as the strengthening of regional multilateralism, should be the priority of all stakeholders in the coming decade.

Frederic Grare is Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFR) and a non-resident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Jean-Loup Samaan is Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore and Associate Researcher with the French Institute of International Relations.