President Obama traveled to Hawaii today to mark the expansion of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument as the largest ecologically protected area on earth. The moment is significant. The continued pillage of the seas’ resources represents no less …
It all started when someone sank the professor’s boat. Somewhere between 1999 and 2000, thieves broke into his unattended vessel that was left at port during the winter, made off with the engine and scuttled the ship to the bottom of the harbor. The fr …
Toward Global Water Security, a report produced by the Atlantic Council and U.S. Water Partnership, outlines a process for forging a stakeholder-driven, “Whole of America” water grand strategy. After assessing how the United States government and other …
In partnership with National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project In response to rising international attention to the issue of fish crime and the threat it poses to conservation, development and international security, a global strategy to protec …
The reduction of sea ice in the Arctic has increased prospects for shipping to and from the Northwest Passage, development of offshore oil in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, and migration of fish stocks from the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean. The legal …
Later this year, the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, will welcome leaders from all around the world to a conference focused on the security of our oceans. High on the agenda is safeguarding marine protected areas (MPA) and addressing the …
In 2010, governments around the world agreed to protect 10 percent of the world’s oceans by 2020. Today, having just passed the halfway mark, prospects of achieving this ambitious goal seem bleak. Just over two percent of our oceans are recog …
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing earns an estimated $36.4 billion in illicit profits each year. The actors who carry out IUU fishing activities often converge with other serious security threats, including transnational organized crim …
How to avoid a war with China over seafood—and take a bite in world poverty. In 2012, Beijing transformed a Soviet-era hulk into its first aircraft carrier, a major step in the country’s military build-up. Now, Chinese officials are confirming they wo …
Sea Change: Evolving Maritime Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific Region began in the fall of 2013 when the US-based Stimson Center partnered with India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF) to launch a research initiative analyzing the maritime policy …
The Vikings conquered the high seas to plunder and pillage. The British established their empire by dominating the oceans. And in the past 40 years, the United States Navy helped usher in a new era of unprecedented trade and global connectivity by safe …
For decades, politicians have left the responsibility to protect the world’s natural resources to environmental organizations and aid agencies. Yet, with environmental crime on the rise and revenue filling the coffers of the world’s worst terrorist org …
By Owen McAleer: There is an emerging possibility that hydrates will take on a greater role in the coming years as a valuable natural resource. Unlike shallower gas reserves in the Arctic, methane hydrates are relatively stable and not at ri …
Sea Change: Evolving Maritime Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific Region began in the fall of 2013 when the US-based Stimson Center partnered with India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF) to launch a research initiative analyzing the maritime policy …
This timeline provides an in-depth look at the evolution of territorial claims, disputes, governance issues and agreements concerning the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic littoral states. With average sea ice coverage expected to continue dissipating over t …
The seabed beneath the Arctic Ocean is home to some of the largest untapped oil and natural gas reserves on the planet. Owing to the newfound accessibility of a warming Arctic and technological innovations in deep-sea drilling technology, a number of m …
In early August 2013, the general cargo vessel M/V Yong Sheng — a ship operated by the China Ocean Shipping Group Company and weighing in at 19,150 deadweight tonnes — sailed from Dalian in northeastern China, bound for Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Or …
The Indian Ocean region is rapidly emerging as an essential crossroads linking the world’s major producers and consumers of natural resources. Today, more than two-thirds of the world’s oil passes through the region’s waters, while Australia, Indonesia …
In 2015, the Environmental Security Program is examining the evolving security, energy, shipping, and environmental trends that will shape the Arctic region in the coming decades, and assess their implications for decision-makers and stakehol …
For thousands of years it has been a desolate land of extremes ringing the world’s fourth largest ocean – bitterly cold and dark for much of the year, populated primarily by fish and wildlife, with native hunters just about the only humans around. But …
In July 2012 the National Intelligence Council asked the Stimson Center to examine the role of fisheries in ensuring the food supply and food security of the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea and resulting implications for …
This paper is part of a forthcoming series exploring maritime and security policy issues in the Indian Ocean, to be released in the summer of 2012. Together, the papers will examine emerging trends and challenges in the ocean realm, including the …
This brief offers a review of key naval developments in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) during the first quarter of 2012. Events have been dominated by extensive Iranian naval manoeuvres and deployments out of area, the US Navy’s force surge in the Persi …
The waters of Indo-Pacific represent an increasingly significant avenue for world trade and arena for global security. Rising prosperity around the region, growing dependence on natural resource flows linking producers and consumers from the Middle Eas …
The Indian Ocean is rapidly emerging as a key focus of international politics. Its strategic energy reserves and natural resources, the growing importance of its ports and shipping lanes, and the rise of India, Indonesia, South Africa, and other littor …
The first quarter of 2012 paints a somewhat confusing picture with regard to the state of piracy threat in the high risk areas (HRA) of the Indian Ocean. Initially, given the low level of attacks for the first six weeks of 2012, it seemed the threat ag …
This brief offers a review of key naval developments in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) during the first quarter of 2012. Events have been dominated by extensive Iranian naval manoeuvres and deployments out of area, the US Navy’s force surge in the Persi …
The Indian Ocean is rapidly emerging as an essential crossroads of the global market and a key focus of international politics. Rising flows of trade, investment, people, and ideas around the region are linking the Indian Ocean countries …
This spotlight highlights Chapter 8, “Environmental Pressures in the Indian Ocean,” in the newly-published Indian Ocean Rising: Maritime Security and Policy Challenges. The Indian Ocean represents one of the richest environments in the world. It is hom …
By Rupert Herbert-Burns – This brief offers a review of key naval developments in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) during the first quarter of 2012. Events have been dominated by extensive Iranian naval manoeuvres and deployments out of area, the US Navy’ …