Fragmentation, Complexity and Cooperation: Understanding Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security Governance

Scott A Edwards

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Southeast Asia is beset by a host of maritime security threats including
illegal fishing, piracy, smuggling and environmental crimes. Institutions
responding to these issues have proliferated. This article systematically
maps and demonstrates this new complexity and fragmentation using
original empirical data. Focusing on blue crimes rather than territorial
disputes, it argues that fragmentation, a non-hierarchical proliferation
of arrangements, is a key driver of regional cooperation on maritime
security, and that while conflict overlap and duplication are present
between arrangements, the development of trust and collective
identification between actors is having an overall positive effect on
regional cooperation. The article further argues that this emerges
from fragmentation in two ways. First, fragmentation creates more
opportunities for sustained interaction, which can habituate cooperation
due to the expanding web of meetings. Second, fragmentation, when
well-managed, exposes an expanding set of actors to these trust-building
processes. The article therefore provides new perspectives on regional
dynamics and the state of cooperation in the field of maritime security.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)87-121
JournalContemporary Southeast Asia
Volume44
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 21 Apr 2022

Keywords

  • Maritime security
  • regime complexity
  • fragmentation
  • regional cooperation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Fragmentation, Complexity and Cooperation: Understanding Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security Governance'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this