Projects

Blogs linked to concrete projects

Mastering maritime security: SafeSeas forthcoming best practice tool kit

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Maritime security is a global task. It requires effective governance on a national and regional level, but also external capacity building to assist countries in developing the required human, institutional and material capacities needed to manage maritime spaces and enforce regulation within those spaces. Mastering this complex arena requires reflexive capacity building. SafeSeas forthcoming Best … Read more

How can we capture capacity building? New Concept Note published

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Capacity building is a broad concept with no clear definition. It is also a buzzword of International Politics. At SafeSeas we are interested in the practice of capacity as a diverse activity that goes beyond immediate maritime security concerns and is part of the broader picture of maritime governance. But, how can these practices be … Read more

Maritime Security in Kenya

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This working paper provides a primer to the SAFE SEAS case study of the maritime security sector in Kenya drawing on elements of the SPIP methodology. It examines the maritime spaces of Kenya, the problems, and challenges facing these spaces as well as the existing legal, policy and institutional frameworks for tackling these problems. Read … Read more

New Concept Note on Kenya and maritime security published

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Kenya’s waters provide significant domestic and international economic opportunities. These prospects are, however, undermined by a wide range of maritime security challenges. The nature of these security concerns, in particular the impact of Somali piracy, has resulted in maritime security becoming an emergent priority for the Kenyan government. As a primer to the SAFE SEAS case … Read more

Capturing Capacity Building

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Capacity building is a buzzword of international politics. It is a concept through which very diverse activities geared at assisting countries are described. The Sustainable Development Goals rely substantially on the idea that least developed countries require improved capacities to address poverty and other issues. As Venner notes, “capacity building has thus become something that … Read more

Maritime Security in Seychelles

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This concept note introduces the SAFE SEAS case study of the maritime security sector in the Seychelles. Drawing on the SPIP methodology, the country profile is introduced, the organization of maritime space reviewed and the core maritime security issues identified by the country are discussed. The Seychelles provides a particularly interesting case as an archipelagic … Read more

New Concept Note on Maritime Security in Seychelles published

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The Seychelles provides a particularly interesting case study as an archipelagic Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in which oceans policy for sustainable development and maritime security are core drivers of the governmental agenda. To illuminate these important issues, SAFE SEAS has published a new Concept Note on Maritime Security in Seychelles that examines how Seychelles regulates … Read more

Does capacity building stand for a new era of international engagement?

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Capacity building is the core term through which many global actors describe their international engagement today. While the concept of “capacity building” is anything but new, its arrival in international security discourse is relatively recent. Are we witnessing a major shift in terms of how security actors plan, implement and think about their international engagement? 

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What knowledge does capacity building need? The fallacies of epistemic determinism

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Inherent in contemporary understandings of capacity building is the idea that if a country possesses the right knowledge and technology then it will be able to handle the challenges associated with the Sustainable Development Goals. In consequence, much emphasis of capacity building work is on transferring technology and knowledge to least developed countries. Often, little thought goes into the question what the “right” or “appropriate” knowledge might be. The assumption is that knowledge (such as what functions a maritime security sector has to perform) is universal and can be easily transferred. 

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Mapping Maritime Security Sectors

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Maritime security capacity building in the Western Indian Ocean remains a largely experimental process. At SAFE SEAS we are interested in mapping Maritime Security Sector Reform (MSSR) processes in this region, centred on practices or ‘concrete’ activities rather than conceptual or theoreticalapproaches. This allows for a more nuanced representation of a states maritime sector and … Read more