Christian Bueger

Category Archives: Publications

New Publications


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Commentaries on Beirut port disaster

In the afternoon of August 4th, a major explosion in the port of Beirut killed over 100 people and left thousands wounded. Given the importance of the port for Lebanon’s economy, the consequences will be felt for years.

Together with Scott Edwards I have written a series of commentaries that aim at contextualising the disaster and analysing its consequences for global trade and port management. We particular highlight the link to abandoned ships and containers, as well as the broader challenges posed by the trade in hazardous materials.

Our first general analysis was published by The Conversation, the day after the disaster. Read the piece titled “Beirut explosion: the disaster was exceptional but events leading up to it were not – researchers.” We argue to interpret the event in the light of the broader problem of abandoned ships and container.

Our second comment focuses on Africa. Recognising that African ports are particularly vulnerable, we argue for dedicated capacity building work to address the handling of hazardous material and waste crimes. The article titled “African ports need to learn the lessons of Beirut” was published by African Business Magazine on August 6th.

A third comment published with The Diplomat on August 7th, investigates the consequences for Southeast Asia, arguing that ports in the region have struggled in the past and now need to step up there game. Read “The Beirut Disaster Is a Wake-up Call for Southeast Asia. The devastating explosion in Beirut reminds us how vulnerable Southeast Asian ports might be.”


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New article on blue crimes

Much confusion surrounds the question what kind of crimes at sea do need attention. The UN Security Council struggled with this question, as does the larger maritime security discourse. To offer new foundations, we offer in a new article a matrix for how to organise the debate. We propose the concept of blue crime as a way of thinking and organising the discussion on transnational organised crime at sea in a new article published with Marine Policy. It is one of the outcome of our TOCAS project and co-authored with Tim Edmunds. Read it here.


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What are the peace and security challenges of the maritime?

A new handbook chapter that I co-authored with Dr. Jessica Larsen from the Danish Institute of International Studies in Copenhagen, provides an overview and synthesis of the challenges that security, development and peace policies face at sea.

Published in a new handbook on Peace, Security and Development the chapter discusses different manifestations of blue crime, the responses to it, and emerging topic areas, such as port security, critical infrastructures at sea or environmental crime. The chapter makes a strong claim for paying more attention to the intersections of blue crimes and calls for more interdisciplinary connections. The Chapter is available here. For a free copy please contact me.


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Is field work the answer? New pre-print on methodology

A couple of years back I wrote a paper about ‘field work’. It was written for a workshop on political ethnography and was a reflection on my then ongoing research on counter-piracy governance. Arguing that ‘field work’ is not the right term for what I as well as many others are engaged in, the paper explores problems such as multi-sitedness, time, proximity and experimentation. The edition of the workshop that contains the chapter is now forthcoming. Read it as pre-print here.


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Review of new book on the coastguard-navy nexus

My review of Ian Bowers and Swee Lean Collin Koh’s “Grey and White Hulls: An International Analysis of the Navy-Coastguard Nexus” is now published with Contemporary Southeast Asia. The book presents one of the first major comparative studies of how countries organise their maritime security structures. Read here.


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New article on capacity building published

What can we learn from maritime security for how capacity building is carried out? Analyzing recent capacity building practices in the Western Indian Ocean , a new article on innovation in capacity building addresses this. The article is published by Third World Quarterly and available here. It is one of the outputs of the British Academy funded SafeSeas research project. Contact me if you do not have access through your institution.


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Short article on maritime security capacity building

What are the challenges in governing maritime security? How can the capacity gap closed through capacity building projects? What guidelines can make such work more effective? These are the questions that I address in a new short article published in the Seychelles Research Journal. I discuss the key insight developed in our last research project which were published as a best practice tool kit titled “Mastering Maritime Security”.


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Edited volume on Conflict Resolution Expertise published

Front Cover
The volume “Assembling Exclusive Expertise: Knowledge, Ignorance and Conflict Resolution in the Global South” edited by Anna Leander and Ole Waever is now published. The book rethinks the status and role of expert knowledge in conflict resolution through a range of case studies. In my chapter in the book I revisit my trajectory as piracy expert and how the demands for expertise in the counter-piracy field has been changing. Contact me for a soft copy of the chapter.


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Thinking the blue economy as kaleidoscope: Review published

My short review of James Alix Michel’s Rethinking The Oceans – Towards the Blue Economy is available as online first with the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region. In the review, I highlight the productivity of interpreting blue economy as a kaleidoscope, rather than striving for a universal definition. I then argue for the importance of paying more attention to the link between blue economy and maritime security. Free pre-print copies of the review are available here. 


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Policy brief on maritime domain awareness

How can maritime domain awareness (MDA) in the Western Indian Ocean be improved? This is the question I address in a new Policy Brief published by the Institute for Security Studies Pretoria. Much of the current MDA work is in the hands of international actors, and although significant capacity building is underway, projects such as the Djibouti Code of Conduct or the MASE project have not led to a functioning MDA structure. I argue that a focus on people and improved coordination would allow to step up the game.