Projects
The Indian Ocean, home to a fifth of the water on earth’s surface, has long been a crossroads for merchants, mariners, and navies. The Indian Ocean is critical to the geopolitical and economic fortunes of its littoral states and outside powers. As they have for centuries, container, passenger, and naval vessels squeeze through its narrow straits and sail into its deep waters, plying busy trade routes that span the globe from Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.
Today, securing value and supply chains has become a priority for states small and large. As a space where the world’s great powers intersect, the Indian Ocean is one of the most valuable trade and geopolitical regions of the world with over 80% of the world’s oil passes through the Indian Ocean’s waters. It is not only a fulcrum of strategic competition between nations but also of an array of valuable economic and development opportunities. Yet there are few dedicated Indian Ocean programs anywhere in the world. The Carnegie Asia Program’s Indian Ocean Initiative serves as as a hub for research and scholarship related to the Indian Ocean and its island states and territories.
Fellow Darshana Baruah directs the Indian Ocean Initiative, drawing on her own innovative research and writing on maritime security and the importance of island nations, as well as New Delhi’s strategy toward the Indian Ocean. The Initiative draws together the work of other leading Carnegie scholars who have advanced the study of the Indo-Pacific, its security architecture, and the development of connectivity across this huge tract of ocean.
Programs
Our team
Ashley J. Tellis
Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs
Ashley J. Tellis is the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in international security and U.S. foreign and defense policy with a special focus on Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Vijay Gokhale
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie India
Vijay Gokhale is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India and the former foreign secretary of India. He has worked extensively on matters relating to the Indo-Pacific region with a special emphasis on Chinese politics and diplomacy.
Rudra Chaudhuri
Director, Carnegie India
Rudra Chaudhuri is the director of Carnegie India. His research focuses on the diplomatic history of South Asia, contemporary security issues, and the important role of emerging technologies and digital public infrastructure in diplomacy, statecraft, and development. He and his team at Carnegie India chair and convene the Global Technology Summit, co-hosted with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
Milan Vaishnav
Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program
Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program and the host of the Grand Tamasha podcast at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior. He also conducts research on the Indian diaspora.
Satyendra Prasad
Nonresident Senior Fellow, South Asia Program, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program
Dr. Satyendra Prasad is a nonresident senior fellow in the South Asia and Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Srinath Raghavan
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Security Studies Program
Srinath Raghavan is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India. His primary research focus is on the contemporary and historical aspects of India’s foreign and security policies.
Evan A. Feigenbaum
Vice President for Studies, Acting Director, Carnegie China
Evan A. Feigenbaum is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees its work in Washington, Beijing, New Delhi, and Singapore on a dynamic region encompassing both East Asia and South Asia. He served twice as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and advised two Secretaries of State and a former Treasury Secretary on Asia.
Interactive Map
Interactive Map
The Indian Ocean Strategic Map displays the economic, political, military, and geographic features of the Indian Ocean and how they interact as one continuous theater. Highlighting the region’s maritime prominence and geopolitical importance, the Indian Ocean Strategic Map displays the unique perspectives, trade relationships, and multilateral bodies that dominate regional geopolitics.
Event Series
Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series
The annual Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series convenes governmental and non-governmental actors to exchange experiences and display the strategic, economic, and diplomatic dynamics between island states and outside partners.
Event Series
Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series
The annual Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series convenes governmental and non-governmental actors to exchange experiences and display the strategic, economic, and diplomatic dynamics between island states and outside partners.