"Civilianizing" the South China Sea and Regional Maritime Security Cooperation

• In Event: Emerging Scholars Lightning Round: Graduate Student Research: Understanding Military, Economic, and Status Security in Contemporary and Historical Contexts

Abstract

The changing maritime security environment of the Asia-Pacific has provided impetus for regional littoral states to develop their coast guards both for law enforcement and as a de-escalation tool. This has led to increasing “civilianization” of the maritime domain: what was once largely under the purview of regional navies, such as security cooperation, has opened up to civilian actors, such as coast guards. This paper seeks to answer the question: what are the impacts of this “civilianization” of the South China Sea on patterns of maritime security cooperation between Southeast Asian littoral states? Through an examination of regional operational-level cooperative mechanisms covering the Southeast Asian maritime domain, I expect to find that "civilianization" exacerbates existing domestic institutional issues within littoral states such as competition for resources and prominence between navies and coast guards, leading to the fragmentation of regional maritime security initiatives.

Author

• Dianne Co Despi, University of Delaware