The Indian Ocean: Resource and Governance Challenges

Stimson's Regional Voices: Transitional Challenges project is devoted to enhancing the information and analysis available to policymakers about emerging transnational security challenges in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Africa, and engages experts and practitioners in the regions. This volume explores current realities and emerging maritime concerns in the Indian Ocean. Regional experts and Stimson analysts assess the ocean in its multiple roles: a conveyer belt of vital commerce and energy resources, and environmental habitat under stress, and an arena where crime, terrorism, and proliferation occur or could occur, requiring states and regions to address important security concerns.

Based in Washington, DC, the Stimson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to developing new knowledge and crafting "pragmatic steps for global security." Stimson works on a wide range of global security issues, from nonproliferation to regional security in Asia, from UN peacekeeping operations to analyzing the resources needed for 21st century statecraft.

Edward N. Kimani is a Research Scientist and Senior Program Officer (Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology) at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI). Dr. Kimani also serves as the Marine and Costal Fisheries Research Programme Coordinator, supervising a marine fisheries research team of eight scientists and six technicians at KMFRI, as well as coordinating fisheries research activities between KMFRI and other local and international organizations.

Mak Joon Num is an independent analyst specializing in maritime security issues in Southeast Asia. His research particularly focuses upon how the interplay between external and domestic political and economic variables affects the security of both states and societies, including logical and marginalized communities.

Mustafa Alani is a Senior Advisor at the Gulf Research Center and Program Director in Security and Terrorism Studies. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies.

Geethangani de Silva is Associate Director of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies and currently holds the position of Interim Executive Director. Ambassador de Silva spent over 25 years as a member of the Sri Lanka Foreign Services (SLFS) and last held the position of Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Amit Pandya Amit Pandya directs The Henry L. Stimson Center's Regional Voices: Transnational Challenges project. He is a South Asia expert and international lawyer. He has been Counsel to the Government Operations and Foreign Affairs Committees of the House of Representatives, and held senior positions at the Departments of Defense and State and at the US Agency for International Development. He has also practiced law and worked in various civil and human rights nonprofit organizations, and was formerly an ethnographer and teacher.

Ellen Laipson Ellen Laipson joined the Henry L. Stimson Center in 2002 after nearly 25 years of government service. Key positions included Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and Special Assistant to the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations. At the NIC, Laipson co-managed the interdisciplinary study "Global Trends 2015" and directed the NIC s outreach to think tanks and research organizations on a wide range of national security topics. At the Henry L. Stimson Center, Laipson directs the Southwest Asia project, which focuses on a range of security issues in the Gulf region. Laipson is a frequent speaker on Middle East issues and on US foreign policy and global trends. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the Middle East Institute, and the Middle East Studies Association. In 2003, she joined the boards of the Asia Foundation and the Education and Employment Foundation.