Project Summary

This project will improve the outcomes of maritime security capacity-building activities (CBAs) in the Indo-Pacific region. The region’s nations rely on their sealanes in order to safely convey their imports and exports and, consequently, to sustain their people’s well-being. Unfortunately, the safety and security of these sealanes are increasingly under threat from states, criminals, natural disasters, and dangerous weather. State capacity to protect sealanes varies tremendously throughout the region and thus, states with greater resources, international organizations, and non-government organizations have engaged in activities designed to assist the less capable states develop their maritime security capacity. As a Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnership (JFIPP) research fellow, I will collaborate with scholars and engage with practitioners to identify opportunities for CBA improvement and develop specific actionable policy recommendations for states and international organizations to adopt to enhance their CBAs. This will, in turn, strengthen the free and open international order in the Indo-Pacific region’s maritime domain.

Given the fundamental importance of the maritime domain, implementing these recommendations will advance peace and prosperity for the entire Indo-Pacific region. The study will give particular attention to recommendations that are applicable to the Quad member states as significant capacity providers supporting maritime order in the Indo-Pacific. The primary audience of the findings will be maritime security policymakers and CBA program executives, but the project will also advance scholarly understandings of related topics.

The project will begin with a desk study that comprehensively surveys existing literature regarding Indo-Pacific maritime security CBAs and reviews policy documents issued by leading CBA delivery organizations. This portion of the research will be conducted in Japan. Subsequent interviews with policymakers and practitioners will take place in Japan, Australia, and India.

This project’s primary output will be a policy report that will be the first comprehensive assessment of the specific needs for CBA reform region wide. It will provide a fully developed set of programmatic and policy-level recommendations for CBA delivery organizations—particularly in the Quad states—to improve their organizational efficiency and expand the impact of their actions.