Suchergebnisse

India has not had a policy specific to the Indian Ocean beyond the knee-jerk and ad hoc responses to the changing regional and global environment. The Indian Navy, however, played a significant part in formulating the maritime perspective vis-à-vis the Indian Ocean and in dovetailing it with the country's larger foreign policy objectives in the region. Owing to ill-advised responses to interventions from both within and outside the region, India faced near isolation in the Indian Ocean region during the second half of the Cold War era. India's sensitivity to new opportunities and concerns about emerging threats to the stability of the region have brought about a change in India's relationships after the end of the Cold War. At present, India's policy seems to be motivated by priorities such as energy security, war on terror and maritime security. As a major regional power and enjoying greater credibility than during the Cold War era, India should act as a facilitator to build structures of maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean region that can help integrate the littoral states and thus pave the way for a firmer foundation for a future peace zone in the Indian Ocean.

The article seeks to analyze the policy of USA as a self-proclaimed leader of a coalition representing the interest of the North as also its allies and supporters in the South, specially in the context of increasing sense of energy insecurity. This insecurity is caused by a combination of factors like the declining reserves in the North, continued reliance upon oil and gas for commercial energy, and the feeling that not only 'rogue' regimes but also non-state actors pose a threat to free flow of energy at affordable price. That sense of increasing insecurity has prompted the US-led coalition to seek to militarily dominate a substantial part of the oil and gas reserves of the Gulf region, especially after 2003. Of late, steps have also been contemplated to force these states to open their oil and gas sector to oil majors of the North. These policies are likely to be resented, especially at the popular level, in this sensitive region. It remains to be seen whether the policy of dominating the Gulf and its energy resources by stationing large military force will succeed or further add to the sense of insecurity.