Cross currents: the new geopolitics of the Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is becoming a more complex, congested and contested strategic space than ever before. This involves a relative decline in the United States’ military dominance, the emergence of India as a major regional power and China’s growing economic and military presence. The interactions between these powers are likely to produce a more multipolar region than seen in the modern era, with a much greater level of strategic competition.

Cross currents: the new geopolitics of the Indian Ocean – the first publication from the National Security College Press – brings together leading analysts from Australia, India, US, France, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Seychelles to consider the future of the Indian Ocean. It examines the changing balance of military power, including the naval and air strategies of the major powers, as well as the changing roles of key resident middle players, and the consequences of these developments for the island states as they seek to maximise their agency in the face of great power competition. The volume then considers how we should understand Indian Ocean dynamics as part of the broader Indo-Pacific construct.

Cross currents is an essential reference tool for those who wish to understand strategic developments in the Indian Ocean in the decades ahead.