Maritime Power Plays: The U.S. and China in the Indian Ocean

The World Unpacked

What if the future of global power dynamics and, the question of winners and losers in the US-China competition could hinge on one body of water – the Indian Ocean? As geopolitical tensions rise and great powers vie for influence in the Indo-Pacific, the Indian Ocean is emerging as an increasingly critical theater of international relations.

What is clear is that U.S.-China tensions are heightening the strategic importance of maritime security. How are these dynamics changing the geopolitical environment of the Indian Ocean? How are island nations responding to the increased interest in their regional waters, and how will they shape great power competition more broadly? Sophia Besch and nonresident scholar Darshana Baruah discuss these questions and more in this week's episode.

Notes

1. C. Raja Mohan, Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2012).
2. Darshana Baruah, The Contest for the Indian Ocean: And the Making of a New World Order (Yale University Press, 2024).