Why Pacific Island States Are Concerned About Deep-Sea Mining
The underwater minerals are needed for the global transition to clean energy, but the effects of extraction may pose major risks to surrounding states.
· November 27, 2023
Projects
Indian Ocean Initiative
About the Project
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
Darshana M. Baruah
Nonresident Scholar, South Asia Program
Darshana M. Baruah is a nonresident scholar with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she directs the Indian Ocean Initiative.
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.
Frederic Grare
Nonresident Senior Fellow, South Asia Program
Frédéric Grare is a nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research focuses on Indo-Pacific dynamics, the search for a security architecture, and South Asia Security issues.
Vijay Gokhale
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Security Studies Program
Vijay Gokhale is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India and the former foreign secretary of India.
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.
James Schwemlein
Nonresident Scholar, South Asia Program
James Schwemlein is a nonresident scholar in the South Asia Program 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.
All work from Indian Ocean Initiative
41 Results
· August 8, 2023
Ocean Nations: The 3rd Annual Indo-Pacific Islands Dialogue
September 18, 2023
The third annual Summit of Indian and Pacific Ocean island nations, with a focus on the issues that affect them most.
- +21
- Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar,
- Atsushi Sunami,
- Evan A. Feigenbaum,
- Ilana Seid,
- Margo Deiye,
- Darshana M. Baruah,
- Keyzom Ngodup Massally,
- Rudra Chaudhuri,
- Ranil Wickremesinghe,
- Richard Verma,
- Mark Brown,
- Hide Sakaguchi,
- Teburoro Tito,
- Elisabetta Menini,
- Satyendra Prasad,
- Tomoyuki Hirata,
- Viliami Va’inga Tone,
- Michael Schiffer,
- Elina Noor,
- Atsushi Watanabe,
- Dan Baer,
- Alison Clausen,
- Masanori Kobayashi,
- Henry Puna
“Consensus Is the DNA of the Pacific Region”
How small island states in the Pacific are banding together to navigate climate change and other pressing issues.
· September 13, 2023
Bolstering the Quad: The Case for a Collective Approach to Maritime Security
This report lays out a case and provides a menu of policy options for how the Quad can pursue a collective approach to Indo-Pacific maritime security, with a particular focus on regional deterrence and defence.
- +2
- Ashley Townshend,
- Darshana M. Baruah,
- Tom Corben,
- Blake Herzinger,
- Tomohiko Satake
United States Studies Centre
Smooth Sailing in the Indo-Pacific, and Strategic Mapping in the Indian Ocean
A discussion on the importance of viewing the Indian Ocean region as one continuous theater, and the emergence of China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Russia as players in the region.
Mapping the Indian Ocean: Australia Launch Event
June 16, 2023
Join Tim Watts, MP, Dr. Corlyn Bull, and Darshana M. Baruah for a conversation about Phase II of the Indian Ocean Interactive Map.
- Tim Watts, MP,
- Carolyn Bull,
- Darshana M. Baruah
Mapping the Indian Ocean Region
The Indian Ocean region’s importance to global trade, geopolitical competition, and maritime security is growing. Understanding its key players, regional organizations, and challenges is critical to crafting policy toward the region.
· June 15, 2023
How Small States Influence Global Politics: The Case of Maldives
June 15, 2023
A leader in advocating climate change and mitigation, as well as its presence at multilateral institutions, the Maldives provides a unique insight into the role small states play in global developments including on multilateral treaties, agreements and establishing norms and rules.
- Abdulla Shahid,
- Elina Noor,
- Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar
Climate Security in the Indo-Pacific: A Conversation with Pacific Island Ambassadors
June 13, 2023
As conversations and research on Pacific Islands take on a new significance within policy discussions and international collaborations, it is a great privilege to hear from and understand the issues of priorities, perspectives, and urgency within the Pacific Island nations.
- +3
- Margo Deiye,
- Pa’olelei Luteru,
- Jane Waetara,
- Viliami Va’inga Tone,
- Darshana M. Baruah,
- Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar
Surrounding the Ocean: PRC Influence in the Indian Ocean
To identify Washington’s implementation of its Indo-Pacific strategy in the Indian Ocean, there needs to be first a study examining the region against U.S. interests, priorities, and competition in light of Washington’s problems, challenges, and opportunities in the Indian Ocean.
· April 18, 2023
House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific
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