Pacific Forum

Issues & Insights Vol. 21, SR 2 — Advancing a Rules-based Maritime Order in the Indo-Pacific

Overview

Authors of this volume participated in the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Expert Working Group’s 2021 workshop that took place, virtually on March 23-24. The working group, composed of esteemed international security scholars and maritime experts from Japan, the United States, and other Indo-Pacific states, was formed to promote effective U.S.-Japan cooperation on maritime security issues in the region through rigorous research on various legal interpretations, national policies, and cooperative frameworks to understand what is driving regional maritime tensions and what can be done to reduce those tensions. The workshop’s goal is to help generate sound, pragmatic and actionable policy solutions for the United States, Japan, and the wider region, and to ensure that the rule of law and the spirit of cooperation prevail in maritime Indo- Pacific.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Advancing a Rules-based Maritime Order in the Indo-Pacific | Jeffrey Ordaniel, Director, Maritime Programs, Pacific Forum
2. Strengthening Maritime Crisis Prevention in Northeast Asia: A Focus on Subnational and Nonstate Actors | Shuxian Luo, Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Brookings Institution
3. The Gaps in Japanese Maritime Security Law and the Senkaku Situation | Yurika Ishii, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Security Studies, National Defense Academy of Japan
4. Maritime Security in the East China Sea: Japan’s Perspective | Atsuko Kanehara, Professor, Sophia University; President, Japanese Society of International Law
5. Use of Force in International Law and the New China Coast Guard Law | Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Research Fellow, East Sea Studies Institute, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam
6. Are We Ready for the Quad? Two Contradictory Goals | Kyoko Hatakeyama, Professor of International Relations, Graduate School of International Studies and Regional Development, University of Niigata Prefecture
7. Modernizing U.S. Alliances for Maritime Security in the Indo-Pacific | Virginia Bacay Watson, Professor, Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
8. Maritime Governance Capacity Building: A U.S.-Japan Alliance Agenda for Rule of Law in the Indo-Pacific | John Bradford, Senior Fellow, Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University

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The Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Expert Working Group’s 2021 workshop and this volume were funded by a grant from the U.S. Embassy Tokyo, and implemented in collaboration with the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies (YCAPS).

The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective organizations and affiliations. For questions, please email maritime@pacforum.org.

Photo: The aircraft  carrier  USS  Ronald  Reagan  (CVN  76),  center  left,  and the Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181), center right, sail  in  formation  with  other  ships  from  the  U.S.  Navy  and  Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) as aircraft from the U.S. Air Force  and  Japan  Air  Self-Defense  Force  fly  overhead  in  formation during Keen Sword 2019 in the Philippine Sea. Keen Sword 2019 is a joint, bilateral field-training exercise involving U.S. military and JMSDF  personnel,  designed  to  increase  combat  readiness  and interoperability of the U.S.-Japan alliance. Source: U.S.  Navy  photo  by  Mass  Communication  Specialist  2nd  Class Kaila V. Peters/Public domain.