Christian Bueger

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Discussing UN’s role in maritime security in New York

Back in New York for a discussion on the UN’s role in global maritime security.

In 2025, the UN Security Council has held two general high level meetings on maritime security as well as an Arria formula meeting on seafarers. Additionally, dozens of smaller informal meetings were held in New York. The current momentum and the strong consensus of nations to improve maritime security responses, expressed at these events, is unprecedented. It reflects the rapidly evolving maritime challenges, including armed attacks on shipping, substandard shipping to evade sanctions, persistent piracy and smuggling.

At an event co-organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) New York Office and Greece, we discussed what the UN could do better and more effectively. In my intervention, I laid out the challenges:

  • The oceanic disconnect: Discussions on blue economy and marine conservation, e.g. within the framework of the UN Ocean Conference, are largely disconnected from maritime security debate.
  • Too many agencies, too little coordination. As identified in our 2024 UNIDIR report, a high number of UN agencies address maritime security through different mandates, with no coordination processes between them.
  • Capacity building traps. We lack solid understanding of who is training whom in what, and what types of capacity building are lacking.
  • Data gaps: We are far from a comprehensive global picture of maritime security incidents, trends and patterns. While maritime domain awareness centers provide this on a regional level, no one ensures global data.
  • Analytical void: There is too little analytical expertise within the UN to ensure that we make sense of patterns and trends, act preventively, and identify the norm deficits of emerging issues.

Following up on my intervention in the Council in May this year, I called for an office dedicated to maritime security. This would act as a clearing house and develop an annual report on the state of maritime security for the Council and General Assembly to consider. It could ensure sustainability, reduce waste of resources, and enhance efficiency.

Other speakers highlighted the need to mainstream maritime security across UN activities, including, e.g. in peace operations, stressed the importance of inter-regional cooperation, and flagged the need for preventive action. Newly emerging challenges were also discussed, including nuclear-powered ships and floating sea mines.

In 2026, countries with strong maritime interest, including Bahrain, Colombia and Liberia, will join the Council. This is likely to generate further momentum for maritime security. Whether the P5—notably Russia and China—will agree to a Council resolution that paves the way to a more structured and sustainable approach remains to be seen.


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Talk at Oslo Maritime Security Seminar

Yesterday, I attended the 20th Oslo Maritime Security Seminar – the Nordic’s major industry event on the topic.

With more than 300 attendees, highlights included discussions on grey zone strategies, the shadow fleet, and the challenges linked to growing incidents of GNSS spoofing and jamming. I was invited to discuss the state of maritime security governance and presented six observations. Here in brief:

  • The agenda is evolving rapidly—from terrorism to piracy to smuggling to today’s grey zone threats (cyber, infrastructure attacks, state provocations).
  • Maritime security is now multidimensional—we’re thinking beyond surface and include subsea infrastructure, space, and cyber. That’s creating new governance complexities.
  • A new wave of privatization is underway, driven by robotics, new sensors, AI and data fusion. It’s democratizing maritime domain awareness but also creating new dependencies.
  • There’s a “coastguard revolution”—navies are stepping back from constabulary work, coastguards are stepping up, and this has major implications for maritime investment.
  • Regional cooperation is intensifying as neighbors work closer together. But so is the risk of fragmented regional governance.
  • The UN is gaining real momentum on maritime security—three high-level meetings this year, 120+ states in agreement.

You can read the script of me intervention here.

A personal highlight: Taking the stage at a comedy club – the venue of the seminar – clearly opened new career ideas.


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Visit to Indian maritime security center

Continuing my tour of the world’s leading maritime domain awareness centers, I had the pleasure of visiting the Information Fusion Center – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) last week. The center is an initiative by the Indian Navy to improve information sharing and understanding of maritime security dynamics.

IFC-IOR is modeled after the Singapore Navy’s Information Fusion Center. It is staffed by Indian Navy personnel as well as International Liaison Officers from the Indian Ocean region from currently 15 countries. Closely linked to India’s national maritime fusion center (IMAC), the IFC-IOR’s backbone is an information fusion platform named ‘Mantra’.

Overall, the center performs four main functions:

  • It provides reports on maritime security incidents at regular intervals to provide accurate information on patterns of maritime security threats with a focus on the Indian Ocean region as well as the Gulf of Guinea.
  • The center provides support to regional maritime operations by the Indian Navy, including incidents of piracy or search and rescue missions.
  • It engages in regional capacity building activities and training through workshops on maritime domain awareness and information sharing.
  • Confidence building and naval diplomacy through building relations with international and regional maritime security forces is another major task.

In acting as a regional maritime information clearinghouse, high-level reporting is currently the IFC-IOR’s strongest contribution to the regional maritime security architecture.

Like other centers and platforms, the IFC-IOR faces the challenges of how to better integrate with other initiatives, including the four centers that form SHADE’s Single Information Framework. Another challenge lies in how to automate work, and move from information sharing to enhancing operations through prediction.

In regional terms, the center will also need to strengthen its role in supporting coordinated regional maritime security operations, including those led by its neighbors or organized in the framework of the Regional Maritime Security Architecture.


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Writing retreat in Gothenburg

🌏 Fantastic to complete an intensive writing retreat with my co-authors for our forthcoming ocean infrastructure book!

⚓ Tentatively titled ‘The Engineered Ocean: Global Politics in the Age of Infrastructure’, we investigate how infrastructures are reshaping our oceans and examine the complex challenges of controlling, regulating, securing, and understanding these systems.

➡️ We’re almost done writing and can’t wait to see it in print—and to learn what everyone thinks about our ideas!

🙏 Thanks to University of Gothenburg for hosting us.


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Coast guard gathering in Rome

What challenges are the cost guards of the world facing? This week I had the pleasure to participate in the largest global gathering of coast guards in Rome to find out.

As I discussed in my recent edition of ‘Turbulent Seas’, coast guards are becoming more and more important in maritime security.

The Rome gathering, organized by the Italian Coast Guard, comprised of back-to back meetings of the Mediterranean, European and Global Coast Guard forums, brought more than 100 delegations to the city. The gathering, which included in person remarks by Giorgia Meloni and the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization, was a useful indicator for the key issues currently on the agenda:

  • Artificial Intelligence and Technology Integration: There was a strong emphasis across all three events on leveraging AI, unmanned systems, big data analytics, and emerging technologies to enhance maritime domain awareness, search and rescue operations, and predictive security capabilities.
  • International Cooperation and Information Sharing: Discussions prioritized collaborative approaches to maritime challenges, featuring extensive partnerships between coast guards, EU agencies (EMSA, EFCA, FRONTEX), and international organizations for shared training, capacity building, and data exchange.
  • Climate and Environmental Focus: Significant attention was given to ocean health, climate change impacts, decarbonization of shipping, alternative fuel sources, and environmental enforcement, reflecting the maritime sector’s adaptation to sustainability challenges.

Ensuring that coast guards exchange lessons and promising practices in dealing with these challenges is vital. I look forward to continue observing how international coast guard cooperation unfolds and hopefully some of our upcoming research can be useful. India will host the next Global Coast Guard Summit in 2027.


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New newsletter on coast guards

In a new edition of my newsletter Turbulent Seas I discuss the growing importance of coast guards in maritime security and their role in international cooperation.

Given the changing security environment and the fact that navies are more and more focused on traditional roles coast guards assume a wider spectrum of tasks including in critical maritime infrastructure protection and responding to grey zone tactics.


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Term begins in Copenhagen

This week the term begins at the Københavns Universitet – University of Copenhagen. It’s always a highlight in the academic calendar, filled with plenty of meetings.

This term I have the pleasure of teaching a seminar on global ocean politics. The course is designed to familiarize students with the key challenges facing our oceans—from declining ocean health and the intricacies of blue economy management to maritime security—and how these issues are addressed by global policy professionals.

The oceans should form a core part of International Relations curricula, and I’m glad that’s the case in Copenhagen.

I also look forward to working with several master’s students, supervising a range of exciting thesis projects, many of which focus on maritime issues.

After considerable travel over the summer, including trips to Singapore, Taiwan, Mauritius, and the Maldives, it will be great to catch up with office colleagues and develop our shared projects.


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Discussing maritime security in Maldives

Small island states are at the frontier of maritime security and ocean conservation—a reality I experienced firsthand during my recent visit to the Maldives.

Consisting of more than 1,200 tiny islands, the country relies on inland waterways as its main transport routes, while resort tourism drives the economy. Tuna is the staple food and features in almost all local dishes.

In meetings with the Coast Guard and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I learned about the challenges of managing and safeguarding the maritime economy. While the coast guard is capable and well-equipped, the vast threat landscape makes stronger regional cooperation urgent.

The primary purpose of my visit was to participate in the Theveli Conference, the annual flagship event of the The Maldives National University (MNU). This amazing interdisciplinary gathering brings together researchers interested in the nature, society, and politics of the Maldives and other small island states.

In my keynote address, I discussed how academics can contribute to global ocean politics and how we can improve at translating research into policy, drawing on my experience in maritime security and, most recently, in the UN Security Council. Link to video.

I also taught a short course on linking blue economy to maritime security which led to interesting exchanges on what priorities Maldives should aim for.

Moreover, I participated in a roundtable marking the launch of ‘Small States Maritime Security’ by Athaulla (‘Atho’) Rasheed. The book offers an excellent analysis of maritime challenges facing small states—highly recommended reading.

Delighted to learn that the university is launching two degree programmes on ‘ocean governance’ and on ‘small island state security’ which will be unique educational opportunities in the region.

I look forward to returning to explore more of the islands and their remarkable marine life. Unfortunately, my schedule was too busy, and there wasn’t any time for snorkeling.


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Visit to Taipei, talk at Ketagalan Forum

Critical maritime infrastructure protection is a global concern, as nations worldwide face the challenge of ensuring the resilience of subsea cables and offshore infrastructure. This week, I visited Taipei to discuss how subsea data cables and offshore green energy installations can be better protected in the island’s waters. I participated in the Ketagalan Forum and met with local security experts and policy makers.

Over recent years, the island has faced a series of accidents that led to cuts in vital data cables. This has made protection a top policy priority, raising questions about how lessons from the Baltic Sea can be adapted to Taiwan.

Yet, the concern should not be with data cables alone. Like the Baltic Sea region, the waters off Taiwan have enormous wind energy potential that could, in essence, fully decarbonize the industry. However, expanding offshore wind will require attention to security concerns.

To enhance resilience, Taiwan will need to draw on international best practices: improve its connectivity, enhance surveillance of its maritime domain, criminalize tampering with infrastructure, strengthen coordination with industry, strengthen repair capacity, and engage in cable diplomacy by working closely with regional neighbors, including Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and ASEAN members, but also global partners such as the EU. Regional coast guard cooperation and information sharing, as well as joint development of surveillance technology, could be vital components of such partnerships.

While my visit was short, it provided a great opportunity to meet colleagues, make new friends, and gain a first impression of Taipei.


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New Newsletter on maritime security and ocean politics

I have launched Turbulent Seas – my new newsletter published on LinkedIn. In this new format, I will provide monthly deep dives into global maritime security developments from around the world.

In the first edition I examine recent developments in subsea data cable protection. Cable protection has become a key feature of maritime security and a lot of activities have developed over the last years.

In upcoming editions I will reflect on key developments in regions, such as the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean, but also maritime security solutions, such as coast guard cooperation, or information sharing.

Follow the newsletter here.