On the 9th March, the Charles Telfair Centre welcomed Darshana M. Baruah, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy and the International Institute for Strategic Studies for a talk on “Leveraging Island Agency in the Indian Ocean: Understanding the Strategic Role of Island States in a New Global Contest”.
A leading expert in maritime security in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) and author of “Contest for the Indian Ocean: And the Making of A New World Order”, Baruah offered insights on how small island states of the IOR are already important players in the new global order.
Her co-conversant Mélyne Tarer, Fellow at the Institut Open Diplomacy and International Expert at the Indian Ocean Rim Assosication, discussed inter-island cooperation mechanisms and how they can contribute in boosting island agency.
Key takeways of the event include:
- The need for SIDS to move from a reactive strategy to one of engagement so as to fully exercise their agency.
- SIDS can influence greater powers through their policies and actions. Their agency should therefore not be underestimated.
- We shouldn’t conceptualise the Indian Ocean (IO) by continental region but as one.
- Both called more collective actions from island states of the IO to boost their agency.
