Contested Indian Ocean Regionalisms: The Rise and Return of the Indo-Pacific

Transcription

1 Contested Indian Ocean Regionalisms: The Rise and Return of the Indo-Pacific Timothy Doyle (Universities of Adelaide and Curtin, Australia; Keele University, United Kingdom;) I would like to acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council, Discovery Project Building an Indian Ocean Region. Presented to Northern Institute, CDU, Darwin July 20, 2017

2 4 Types of Regionalisms Nation-Statist Definitions Australia India Sub-Regional Definitions Indian Ocean Commission East Indian Ocean Dialogue Pan-Regional Definitions List of Littoral and Non-Littoral States Indian Ocean Rim Association Super-Regional Definitions Indo-Pacific

3 Constructions by Nation-States 1: Australian Government Definition of IOR

4 Nation-States 2: India and its Natural Maritime World. Panikkar s Steel Ring 1945 A true appreciation of Indian historical forces will show beyond doubt, that whoever controls the Indian Ocean has India at its mercy (K.M. Panikkar 1945: 84-85)

5 Sub-Regional Contruct 1 - Indian Ocean Commission: France in Post- Colonial Indian Ocean IOC is comprised of five countries in the Indian Ocean, these are: Union of the Comoros, France/Reunion Island, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles. IOC is the only organization in the region which is composed exclusively of Islands; it stands at defending the Islands mutual interest at a regional and international level, whilst promoting solidarity and sustainable development.

6 Sub-Regional Construction 2: East Indian Ocean(sub-region) (Bay of Bengal and South China Sea) India, Australia, Indonesia A Trilateral Dialogue on Indian Ocean, but relationship with Japan prioritised.

7 Pan-Regional Construction 1: The Indian Ocean Region (littoral and non-) Indian Ocean Rim States Other Coastal States of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf Indian Ocean Land-Locked States Australia Bangladesh Burma (Myanmar) Comoros Djibouti France* Kenya India Indonesia Iran Madagascar Malaysia Maldives Mauritius Mozambique Oman Pakistan Seychelles Singapore Somalia South Africa Sri Lanka Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste United Arab Emirates United Kingdom* Yemen Bahrain Egypt Eritrea Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Qatar Saudi Arabia Sudan Afghanistan Bhutan Botswana Burundi Ethiopia Lesotho Malawi Nepal Rwanda Swaziland Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe (* For France and United Kingdom: because of their island territories)

8 Pan-Regional Construct 2: IOR-ARC (now IORA)

9 Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Members (21) Established in 1997 Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Somalia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Yemen Dialogue Partners (7) China, Egypt, France, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, Germany (Turkey current applicant decision pending). Observers (2) Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation (IOTO) Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG)

10 Super-Regional Construction: Indo- Pacific Regionalism We are expanding our alliance with Australia from a Pacific partnership to an Indo-Pacific one From cyber security to Afghanistan to the Arab Awakening to strengthening regional architecture in the Asia-Pacific, Australia s counsel and commitment have been indispensible (Hillary Clinton October 2011).

11 Origins of Indo-Pacific First recorded reference Karl Haushofer 1920s (Haushofer English translation 2002) whoever could make an alliance with that part of the globe (the Indo-Pacific area) with its rich resources could rule the rest of the world (Neumann on Haushofer 1943: 281). Reemergence of Classical Conceptual Theory in IR: Haushofer, Ratzel, Churchill Semple, MacKinder pivot.

12 Lebensraum (living space) Use of Haushofer s geopolitics as rationale for German expansion in 1930s Lebensraum Nature metaphors abound (and still do) biological analogy as model for territorial growth of state (Use by Porritt 2011, p. 8) State/organism expands/retracts in competition with neighbouring organisms for space; expanding to occupy it natural living space

13 Pan-Regions 1930s Tri-partite (sometimes 4) division of the world a large functional area linking core states to resource peripheries and cutting across latitudinally distributed environmental zones (O Loughlin and Van der Wusten (1990) Natural Spheres of Interest : natural geopolitics Maritime regionalism: the unity of the sea beyond socio-constructed histories? Japan as core state in Indo-Pacific Construction periphery supplies raw materials to core

14 Haushofer: Global Pan Regions of 1930s

15 New Constructions of Indo-Pacific Geopolitically different: Metaphors of servicing Core now containment, pivot points, counterbalance. US-India-Indonesia-Australia-Japan integrated theatre burden-sharing coalition-building Very similar geographical parametres in dominant conservative depiction: Africa separated to match US command structures.

16 The USPACOM

17 Super-Region as Non-Region The idea of an Indo-Pacific region sometimes mooted by the Obama administration is so vast as to make a nonsense of the concept of region this fits with a longstanding and very clever anti-regional diplomatic tactic of the US. By defining itself as part of various superregions the US both legitimizes its intrusions into them and gives itself leverage against the formation of regional groups that excludes it (Buzan, 2012).

18 Regions, Zones, Routes Whether the name is Indo-Pacific or something else, when I am sitting in my office looking at a pretty detailed chart of my entire jurisdiction, I view it as a continuum of security requirements, not broken down by historical perspectives on different oceans Ships and airplanes travelling across the Indian Ocean are critical for trade and flow of energy sources. The PACOM helps protect these routes (Admiral Samuel J. Locklear cited in DeSilva-Ranasinghe 2013).

19 Inclusive Definition of The Indo-Pacific Region (defined by IPGRCG University of Adelaide) Pursue alternative regional constructs; Resist Recreating Bipolarity : avoid new regional cold war

20 Western Indian Ocean Dialogue The Indian Ocean is also Africa s ocean, and the nations of Africa need to show pro-active ownership and management of its eastern seaboard, for only then will stability, development and co-operation ensure that the benefits flow towards the continent (Van Rooyen, 2011: 24).

21 Challenging the Continuum: Place Matters One size does not fit all in policy response terms, whether it relates to trade, security, environment or cultural exchange. These alternate visions of region challenge, on the one-hand, an overly homogenous view of globalisation and, at the same time, privilege and celebrate relationships between countries and communities that share the same geographic space and place on the planet (Doyle, T. (2013) Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, Special Edition, Africa and the Indian Ocean Region, vol 9; 2: 132).

22 Indian Ocean Rim Association and Indian Ocean Research Group IORA (track 1), IORA, IORAG, and IORG (track 1.5), and IORG (track 2) The Importance of IORA a true Maritime Regionalism based on trade, cultural respect. The Ocean exists beyond the politics of nation-states though rapidly changing. But still an ideal site for complementarity, co-operation, collaboration (IORG) The Emergence of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, Taylor and Francis, London. Building Communities, Academic Diplomacy.