Maritime Security and the Middle East

David Griffiths has a chapter in an upcoming report called Arab Politics Beyond the Uprisings.  The chapter is entitled “Oceans of Opportunity: Maritime Dimensions of Security in the Arab World,” and it takes a look at the many ways that focusing on maritime considerations can help contribute to peace and security in the Middle East. Drawing on his years of experience in Track Two Diplomacy, maritime confidence-building, incidents at sea agreements, and naval diplomacy, Griffiths pulls together a chapter that makes a good case for using the oceans and the common experiences and concerns of naval personnel to pull together desert countries riven by conflict. As Griffiths argues, there are five steps to establishing a maritime security framework in the Middle East. “First, players in the region need to think critically about certain assumptions and biases about the nature of security. Second, regional actors need to understand what advantages maritime dialogue can bring to the wider issue of MENA security and prosperity. Third, there needs to be a common understanding of the region’s maritime security imperatives. Fourth, the experience already gained over more than a decade should be reviewed for lessons that apply now. Finally, a strategy and plan of action needs to be identified.”

This interesting chapter can be found at https://tcf.org/content/report/oceans-of-opportunity/.

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