Christian Bueger

Consultancy

My consultancy work is in the field of maritime security and ocean governance. I have 15+ years of progressive experience in technical research and policy analysis, writing, lessons learned, best practice development, advising diplomatic processes, organizing international conferences, as moderator, facilitator and speaker at high-level events. I also provide tailored training courses, based on our book Understanding Maritime Security.

I welcome inquiries for consultancy and training work or speaking engagements in my areas of expertise, including:

  • maritime security governance, maritime security strategy, law of the sea and related capacity building,
  • maritime domain awareness, information sharing, and new technologies,
  • critical maritime infrastructure protection, in particular concerning the subsea,
  • naval engagement and strategy, maritime law enforcement and coast guard operations, including questions of inter-operability,
  • blue crimes such as piracy, illegal fishing, smuggling, and marine pollution,
  • climate change at sea and the consequences for maritime industries and law enforcement.

My regional expertise is on Europe (Greater North Sea, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean), African security and the political dynamics in the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, including Southeast Asia, the Blue Pacific and small island states.

I work with clients to ensure that they have a solid knowledge base to carry out their work and have a good understanding of the strategic and political context of their projects. Inter-agency and inter-cultural facilitation and making good use of best practices is often an important pre-requisite for this. As an academic engaged in consultancy, I work with high standards of reflexivity and ethics, and generally only accept engagements that contribute to a greater common good. I have worked with a broad range of partners, including ministries of foreign affairs, ministries of transport, navies, coastguards, United Nations agencies and the private sector.

Past clients include:

  • European Parliament, Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), study on Subsea Data Cable Protection in Europe (2021-2022).
  • UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Maritime Crime Programme, guidelines for submarine cable protection (2019), review of environmental crime at sea (2019), study on maritime security and climate change in the Pacific (2020)
  • Indian Ocean Commission, study on the future of the security architecture in the Western Indian Ocean (2019).
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Seychelles, advisor to the chairmanship of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS, 2016-2017); advisor to the Seychelles Maritime Security Strategy Working Group (2017-2018), advisor to the Chair of the Strategic Panning Steering Group of the CGPCS (2020-2021).
  • International Maritime Organization, Djibouti Code of Conduct (2018).
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Germany, G7 presidency, High Level Panel on Maritime Security (2015).
  • Framework International, Review of EU maritime security capacity building project (2016).
  • U.S. Department of State, Lessons Learned from counter-piracy operations (2014-2016).

Recent speaking engagements

I regularly speak at international events on maritime security and ocean governance, including military and diplomatic forums. See here for a full list of recent speeches and here for media interviews.

  • European Parliament, Sub-Committee on Security and Defense (2022),
  • European Defence Agency, Symposium on Maritime Situational Awareness (2022), Critical Maritime Infrastructure Protection (2023),
  • European Council Working Group on Maritime Security (2023).
  • Naval Conferences: Milan exercise of Indian Navy (2024); Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (2023); Baltic Sea Strategy Forum (2023); Australian Seapower Conference (2022), Aman Exercise of the Pakistani Navy (2017, 2019, 2023); Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) meeting (2021, 2022), Galle Dialogue of the Sri Lanka Navy (2015, 2018); Goa Enclave of the Indian Naval War College (2017);
  • Diplomatic Events: Conference “Securing State Recovery: Sustaining Momentum at Sea, Confronting Instability on Land”, Dubai (2014); NATO Operations Policy Committee (2015); Plenary of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) ; G7 High Level Meeting on Maritime Security (2015); Pacific Island Forum Regional Security Information Sharing Workshop (2018); High Level Meeting of Djibouti Code of Conduct (2018, 2019), FishCrime Symposium (2018), EU Military Committee (2021), G7++ Friends of the Gulf of Guinea (2020)
  • Industry Conferences: Transport Security Expo (2012, 2013); BIMCO Maritime Security Seminar (2016, 2018), MAST Northern Coasts (2019), International Cable Protection Committee (2023).

Executive Training and Professional Courses Delivered

  • International Maritime Law Institute, Specialized Course on International Maritime Security Law, Lecturer (2023).
  • Geneva Center for Security Policy, Leadership in International Security, Instructor, Geneva, Switzerland (2022).
  • Singapore Navy, Information Fusion Centre, Regional Maritime Practitioner Programme (RMPP), Instructor, Singapore (2022, 2023).
  • Institute for Security Governance, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Monterey, California, Trainer, Course on ‘Civil-Military Approaches to Maritime Security’ (2019).
  • UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Maritime Crime Programme, Trainer, Modules on environmental crime, maritime security governance, and strategy, Staff Training Course (2009).
  • European Security and Defense College, Rome, Trainer, Course on Maritime Security (2013, 2014).

Selected Recent Reports and Commentary