Commentaries

Somali pirates are back in action. A strong global response is needed
by Christian Bueger With the military escalation in the Red Sea caused by the Houthi attacks on merchant vessels and ongoing coercion by Iran, the Western Indian Ocean seems further away than ever from its self-declared goal to be a region of peace and prosperity. Growing maritime insecurity is also ...
Missed opportunities? Enhancing maritime safety through the EU’s 2023 maritime package
by Christian Bueger, Jan Stockbruegger & Vonintsoa Rafaly The European Union is a major player in ensuring the safety of marine transport. Given the importance of its members as port states and flag states and the size of its shipping companires – which control nearly 30 percent of the world ...
New Policy Brief – ‘Maritime security sector governance and reform’
SafeSeas’ Tim Edmunds and Scott Edwards collaborated with the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) on ‘Maritime security sector governance and reform’ (MSSG/R). The policy brief, available here, is a backgrounder document intended to provide a consideration of the challenges and opportunities of security sector reform and governance in ...
How to protect critical maritime infrastructures – event summary
By Christian Bueger The attack on the Nord Stream attack has brought much attention to critical maritime infrastructures and their protection. Yet, we are far from a solid understanding of what critical maritime infrastructures are and what kind of protection they need. To contribute to this critical knowledge the ocean ...
Nord Stream pipeline sabotage: how an attack could have been carried out and why Europe was defenceless
By Christian Bueger Whatever caused the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, it appears to be the first major attack on critical “subsea” (underwater) infrastructure in Europe. It’s now widely thought – not least by Nato – that the explosions that led to major leaks in the two pipelines ...
Implementing the UK’s Indo-Pacific ’tilt’ in Southeast Asia through equitable and sustainable partnerships
By Robert Yates & Scott Edwards In June 2022, the University of Bristol hosted a workshop bringing together academics working on Southeast Asia. From a variety of disciplines, participants explored what an integrated presence could look like, and the different dynamics the UK needs to consider. This policy report summarises ...
Can the new contact group add value in the Western Indian Ocean? 4 scenarios
by Christian Bueger In early 2022 a subtle, but substantial shift took place in the Western Indian Ocean's security architecture: The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (known as CGPCS) closed shop. The CGPCS had been an instrumental part in containing piracy off the Coast of Somalia ...
Maritime Security in Ghana: The next steps
Tackling maritime insecurity in order to enhance the blue economy, restore ocean health, but also to strengthen blue justice, continues to be one of the major challenges for today's governments. Much attention is being paid to these ocean challenges in countries across the African continent. For outside observers, Ghana has ...
Policy brief – Negotiating Capacity Building: The case of maritime security projects in Ghana
The Gulf of Guinea is a global hotspot for maritime insecurity. Ghana, a country in this region, has had its share of blue crime in its waters. This makes it a relevant object of study partly because the country continues to suffer acts of maritime insecurity, including piracy. At the ...
Beyond Competition: Why the U.S. must cooperate with China and Russia for Maritime Stability
By Jan Stockbruegger and Christian Bueger Great power competition with China and Russia dominates debates in Washington. Few analysts therefore paid attention when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders at the UN Security Council for a high-level debate on “Enhancing Maritime Security ...