As part of our ongoing research on Critical Maritime Infrastructure Protection and the ongoing collaboration with the University of Edinburgh on the green energy transition in the North Sea, last week we held a symposium with representatives from industry, North Sea governments and research organizations from the region. A summary is available on the SafeSeas website.
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Seabed security: Naval Forum in Spain
The seabed is rapidly becoming a new space of concern in security politics. In Europe, largely triggered by the 2022 sabotage of he Nord Stream pipelines, but also investments by Russia in subsea capabilities, NATO countries are reevaluating their dependency on subsea infrastructures such as pipelines and data and electricity cables.
As part of their EU presidency, the Spanish Navy hosted a Forum focused on the issue on November, 16th at naval headquarters in Madrid. Titled the “Seabed, a new area of interest and dispute”, 150 participants, including high level representatives from all major European navies, discussed the importance of the seabed, and different responses.
The first panel focused on the strategic picture, deep seabed mining and subsea data cables. In the second panels, the navies of Spain, Italy and France provided an overview of the defense and coordination projects they are currently developing. The French representative showed how the navy is implementing its dedicated seabed strategy, while Italy discussed how their response is structured by technological innovation, maritime stakeholder communities, a legal review and the creation of a new coordination center.
In my contribution to panel 1, I firstly argued for the need to think maritime security in dimensional terms. I then demonstrated how substantively our dependency on the seabed has been accelerating in the past two decades, a trend that will continue with the green energy transition is unfolding. Two make that point, I provided a review of how the seabed has been used throughout history. I then investigated the hypothetical landscape of threats based on our recent article on the issue. I ended in an evaluation of current European responses and its challenges.
The main responses are led by NATO and the EU. NATO has developed a coordination cell in its headquarters which organizes a stakeholder network described as ‘community of trust’. At NATO Maritime Command a center for critical infrastructure protection is being developed which will operate in a similar way as the NATO Shipping Center to enhance information sharing and coordination with industry.
The EU is currently evaluating the vulnerability of subsea infrastructures, and has recently launched its EU Maritime Security Strategy that entails significant plans for infrastructure protection. A key actor driving the agenda is the European Defense Agency.
More efforts will be needed, however, in improving maritime domain awareness and subsea awareness, reliable information sharing and standards for the self-protection by the industry.
Debating the future of maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean
What’s the state of progress and arising challenges for maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean? From 14.-16.11. I had the pleasure to follow large parts of a ministerial conference addressing this issue in Mauritius online. I chaired one session on the first day and provided comments in the concluding sessions.
Below is the write up of my intervention:
Towards holistic maritime security: Finetuning the maritime security system in the Western Indian Ocean
Maritime security solutions in the Western Indian Ocean have made significant progress. A decade after the crisis caused by piracy attacks in the region, a sustainable and well-functioning maritime security structure has been built.
While often referred to as a maritime security ‘architecture’, this term seems no longer appropriate. An architecture is a metaphor that points to a project in planning and construction. Maritime security has progressed in the region to a degree, that it is now better to refer to a ‘system’ – a system that needs to be finetuned and improved, but which has been well established.
Continue readingDiscussions on maritime security and infrastructures in Geneva
While the global attention for the oceans continues to be unprecedented, maritime security and critical maritime infrastructure protection lack an institutional home within the United Nations system. While different UN agencies deal with aspects of the agenda, the debate is dispersed and lacks a holistic outlook. This includes the International Maritime Organization, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Food and Agricultural Organization, the UN Environment Programme, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction or the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Maritime security has also been high on the agenda of the UN Security Council. This risks global fragmentation and the question of the relation between regional and global ocean governance continues to be unsettled.
On November 9th I had the pleasure to discuss with UN bodies in Geneva how this situation can be addressed.
Discussing security challenges in the Mediterranean in Athens
The Mediterranean is an increasing volatile region and close attention for the range of security challenges is needed. I had the pleasure to discuss these challenges with colleagues at an event co-organized by the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and NATO, held in Athens on 3.11.2023.
In my talk I was reviewing the set of maritime security issues in the region, highlighting the need to think beyond the problem of irregular migration at sea.
Talk on infrastructure protection in South China Sea
I had the pleasure to give an online talk at the 15th South China Sea International Conference organized by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. The conference is one of the most important gatherings of maritime security experts in the region.
In my talk I was outlining the implications of the critical maritime infrastructure protection agenda for the region. Vietnam in particular has substantial potential in offshore energy production, which raises the question of how these installations will be protected in the future.
New article: Offshore wind energy and maritime security
How are energy security and maritime security intertwined? In a new article forthcoming in Ocean Yearbook, Tim Edmunds and I discuss the threats and risks linked to offshore wind energy platforms. We discuss the different scenarios that arise from marine safety, blue crime, terrorism and greyzone war fare, as well as different mitigation and response options from civil, military and private actors. The article is available as a pre-print here.
New expert role at UN
I have recently joined the Pool of Experts of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS), United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. My key objective will be to ensure that maritime security and safety concerns are appropriately considered in the UN assessment.
Legal infrastructures
The opportunities of thinking infrastructurally for revisiting core questions of politics and social relations are also increasingly seized in international legal studies. On the 21st of September I had the pleasure to attend a workshop on legal infrastructures organized by the new center on mobility law at the University of Copenhagen.
Drawing on the concept of infrastructures allows to rethink the machinery of law as composed of structures and practices, which are material and social, and brings a broader array of agency to the fore. Law is in many ways ingrained in any infrastructure. Shipping would not function without the Law of the Sea and the conventions of the International Maritime Organization. The same time law can also be interpreted as an infrastructure in its own right with its internal logics and effects on how international relations are organized. Treaties and their institutions and norms can here be understood as enabling particular international practices, such as diplomacy and regulation.
Term starts in Copenhagen
A new teaching term kicked off at the University of Copenhagen. This semester I will have the pleasure to explore with students two crucial topics.
In the first seminar co-taught with Jan Stockbruegger we explore Global Ocean Politics. We discuss what is at stake in governing the oceans exploring the wide range of problems and actors that the oceans are facing. The seminar adds a teaching component to our ocean infrastructure research group.
The second seminar concerns methodology and research design. In the course titled ‘How to design research in International relations that matters‘, we will explore how research can be designed to resonate in global political discourses and interfere with international practices. With our focus on small scale research projects this is an interesting challenge that we need to get better at tackling.