Maritime governance in the Indo-Pacific

The 21st century brought the shift of global political and economic gravity towards the Indo-Pacific. The primary beneficiaries of the process of globalisation in the world economy became Indo-Pacific littorals. They transformed their economies, gaining significance on a global scale, aspiring to the role of regional or global powers. Over time the Indo-Pacific became the busiest and most significant communication corridor with the most extensive world container traffic and world petroleum transit, providing vital resources for all the region’s countries. Ensuring the security of Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) has been included in the maritime strategies of states. Growing asymmetric threats of piracy and terrorism, as well as the rise of China’s naval blue-water capabilities and its assertiveness in the South China Sea made the Indo-Pacific an area of significant international commercial transportation and one of the competition of the regional and extra-regional actors. The geopolitical significance of IOR is also marked by China’s quest to access the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific as areas of fundamental strategic meaning through the SLOCs, and the theatre of maritime military operations. The diversified character of threats and complexity of the challenges influenced the maritime strategies of countries published at the beginning of the 21st century.