- 25 Apr 2023
[Book Talk] The Indian Ocean as a New Political and Security Region
(This event was organised by MEI Political Economy research cluster and NUS-ISAS.)
The new book from Frédéric Grare and Jean-Loup Samaan analyses the emergence of the Indian Ocean as a strategic space of central importance. For a long time, the Indian Ocean was a “neglected ocean”, almost marginal compared to the global centres in the East and West. However, by the end of the 2000s, China’s global growth triggered new interest in the region. Although this was primarily driven by considerations over great power competition, namely between the US, China, and India, the authors argue in their book that the Indian Ocean is not merely a battleground for this strategic triangle. It is also a vast space of competition among local players (from the Horn of Africa to the Persian Gulf, and South-east Asia) whose ambitions have increased dramatically in the last decade.
This book talk discussed the latest developments in the Indian Ocean: The evolving relations between India, China, and the US; the new role of middle powers, such as European countries or Gulf states; the need for greater regional governance, and the implications for South-east Asia.
This public talk was conducted both in-person and online via Zoom on Tuesday, 25 April 2023, from 4.00pm to 5.30pm (SGT).
Watch the full talk here:
Listen to the full event here:
Get your copy of the book here.
Photo Image: Book cover of ‘The Indian Ocean as a New Political and Security Region’, authored by Dr. Frédéric Grare and Dr Jean-Loup Samaan.
About the Speakers
Senior Research Fellow
Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore
Dr Frédéric Grare
Senior Research Fellow
European Council on Foreign Relations
[Moderator] Prof C. Raja Mohan
Visiting Research Professor
Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
Dr Jean-Loup Samaan is a Senior Research Fellow specialising in Middle East strategic affairs, with a particular focus on the Israel–Hezbollah conflict and the evolution of the Gulf security system. Prior to joining MEI, he held various positions in the policy sector. He worked as a visiting scholar with the RAND Corporation (2007-2008) and as an adviser at the directorate for strategic affairs of the French Ministry of Defence (2008-2011). He then gained extensive experience in the domain of military education and training, first as a deputy director for the Middle East Faculty of the NATO Defense College (2011-2016), and as an associate professor in strategic studies with the UAE National Defense College (2016-2021).
Dr. Frédéric Grare is a senior policy fellow with the Asia Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He previously worked at the Center for Analysis, Planning and Strategy (CAPS) of the French Ministry for Europe and External Affairs (MEAE), Paris, where he focused on Indo-Pacific dynamics and Indian Ocean security issues. Prior to joining the French MEAE, he served as the South Asia programme director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC.
Dr Grare holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and a Habilitation from the Paris Institute of Political Science (Science Po) in Paris. His dissertation focused on Pakistan’s policy in the Afghan conflict. He was a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Counsellor at the French Embassy in Islamabad, and Director of the Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities in New Delhi. He has published extensively on topics related to South Asian security, India’s Foreign Policy, Indo-Pacific dynamics, and maritime security.
He also served as head of the Asia bureau at the directorate for strategic affairs of France’s Ministry of Defence.
[Moderator] Professor C Raja Mohan is Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS). He was the Director of ISAS from May 2018 to December 2021. He was Professor of South Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Prof Mohan is one of India’s leading commentators on the country’s foreign policy. He has been associated with a number of think tanks in New Delhi, including the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, the Centre for Policy Research, and the Observer Research Foundation. He was also the founding director of Carnegie India, New Delhi – the sixth international centre of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC. He was the Henry Alfred Kissinger Chair in International Affairs at the United States Library of Congress, Washington DC, from 2009 to 2010, and served on India’s National Security Advisory Board. He led the Indian Chapter of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs from 1999 to 2006.
Prof Mohan writes a regular column for the Indian Express and was earlier the Strategic Affairs Editor for The Hindu newspaper, Chennai. He is on the editorial boards of a number of Indian and international journals on world politics.
He has a Master’s degree in nuclear physics and a PhD in international relations. Among his recent books are Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific (2013) and Modi’s World: Expanding India’s Sphere of Influence (2015).
Event Details
MEI Conference Room
29 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Blk B
Level 6 Singapore 119620
2. Via zoom
