On the 31st of August the new academic term begins in Denmark. For the University of Copenhagen, and the Department of POlitical Science I am a member of, I will be a special term given the ongoing challenges of dealing withe Corona regulations. Keeping students and staff safe and complying with distancing regulations, implies for the department that many courses will either be taught online or blended.
In the term I teach my first year graduate level lecture on Concepts in International Relations. The course investigates the importance of concepts for the study and practice of world politics and then revisits a number of them, ranging from concepts such as ‘knowledge’, ‘order’, ‘modernity’, and ‘practice’ to concepts such as ‘anthropocene’, or ‘queer’.
Time to recharge the batteries before the new academic year starts in September. From 19th to 28th of August I am on holidays in Tuscany. Emails and queries will be answered from 31st of August.
The oil spill that occurred in Mauritius this week is an environmental tragedy. Having been to the island a number of times. I was shocked to see the pictures of these stunning waters destroyed by 1.000 tonnes of oil.
In an article in The Diplomat I argue that in particular governments in small states need to see oil spills as national priorities. They need to undertake reviews of the national response plans in the light of the disaster. Read the article The Mauritius Disaster: Overlooked Dimensions of Maritime Security, published on August, 12th.
In addition, we published the a more detailed analysis of the response, whether and how the government was prepared and what questions need to be addressed on the same day as SafeSeas Commentary.
The comments were widely picked up in international news, Mauritius Times published further follow ups as did other media in Mauritius.
ISS Today publish a comment coauthored with Timothy Walker on Monday. The piece republished across African newspapers, focuses on the particular consequences for Africa.
The Conversation published a further comment that shows the weakness of the responses of the government and the industry. I argue for a public and transparent investigation of the issue.
A further contribution that addresses the regional consequences for the security architecture in the Western Indian Ocean, co-authored with Tim Edmunds was published by the Observer Research Foundation.
From 17-20th of August I am participating in the workshop ‘Green water Opportunities in the Indian Ocean Region’ organised by the U.S. Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. The workshop revisits the core security and strategic challenges across the Indian Ocean.
In my own contribution to the event I draw on the first results from the TOCAS project, focusing on the Western Indian Ocean and in particular the problem of the continuing lack of capacity and the institutional fragmentation in the region. Contact me by email for a copy of the talk.
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 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.”
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.
On July 16th I had the pleasure to give a presentation on our our new project AMARIS to the African Maritime Collaborative Working Group by the US government. The group seeks to gather the US government’s “African Maritime Community of Interest in an open thought-provoking environment, […] to better enable US participation in African and worldwide maritime Domain Integration and Security Awareness.”
In the presentation I set out the core objectives of AMARIS for understanding the maritime security situation in Ghana, and what broader lessons can be gained from it. I particularly highlighted the potential of our training school to form a sustainable network of maritime security analysts.
One of the formats that the IFC uses is the so-called Shared Awareness Meeting (known as SAM). SAM takes place every couple of months and it is usually a half day meeting in Singapore bringing the regional stakeholders together. On the 15th of July I had the opportunity to participate in the 35th SAM. Due to Covid restrictions it was held for the first time completely virtual. The meeting attracted an unprecedented number of 200 participants.
In spring this year I have accepted the invitation by the Journal of International Studies to join their international advisory board. The journal is based in Malaysia, fully open access and published since 15 years. It is an important outlet to give scholars from the Global South and especially the Southeast Asian region a voice in the global debates.
I am hence glad to offer my support to the journal. On July the 13th, I was able to join my first board meeting. The journal editors are ambitious and want to continue their successful mission. Like other journals key challenges lie in the increasingly competitive publishing environment, predatory journals, but also how to ensure high visibility in the internet age. I am sure that the journal’s team will tackle these challenges. If you have an article that fits the journal, do consider them as one of the upcoming and emerging outlets.
