Competition over the world’s maritime resources and territorial disputes over maritime borders are becoming increasingly prominent in international affairs. At the same time, depleted fish stocks and polluted waters make the question of how countries can collectively manage maritime resources a central one, particularly in discussions over climate change.

Against the backdrop of heightened competition in the maritime domain, China has been rapidly modernizing and expanding its naval capabilities thanks to an unprecedented shipbuilding effort. By contrast, the U.S. Navy is struggling to meet its ambitious goals toward expanding its fleet while nevertheless maintaining a demanding operational tempo. As a result, ship maintenance and crew training have suffered, a dynamic that appears to have contributed to several recent deadly incidents.

Meanwhile, the resources that lie beneath the ocean’s surface are increasingly at risk of overexploitation. Illegal fishing is devastating already diminished global stocks and may soon present a severe crisis to countries whose populations depend on seafood for their diets. In the South China Sea, competition over fishing rights as well as offshore oil and gas reserves has been a major driver of tensions and conflict.

The maritime domain highlights the tensions between national sovereignty and transnational challenges, between the ocean’s littoral regions as exclusive economic zones and the high seas as a global commons. While often ignored in coverage of international affairs, it features prominently in bilateral, regional and multilateral diplomacy, particularly when it comes to resolving boundary disputes.

WPR has covered maritime issues in detail and continues to examine key questions about what will happen next. Will the United States shore up its naval superiority or continue to cede ground to China? How will the pivot to renewable resources affect competition for maritime resources? Will concerns over climate change and depleting fish stocks jumpstart global efforts to improve the state of the world’s oceans? Below are some of the highlights of WPR’s coverage.

Our Most Recent Coverage

The U.S. Boosts Ties With Pacific Island Allies to Counter Chinese Influence

In August, Mike Pompeo became the first American secretary of state to visit the Federated States of Micronesia, where he announced that Washington had begun negotiations to renew important security pacts that it maintains with several Pacific island nations. These agreements, known as Compacts of Free Association, grant the U.S. exclusive military access to the land, air and sea routes of Micronesia, as well as Palau and the Marshall Islands. Washington’s heightened attention to the region is a response to recent efforts by China to deepen its economic and diplomatic ties with these countries, which together are known as the Freely Associated States.

Territorial and Resource Disputes

As varied as they are common, disputes over maritime access have become increasingly significant within domestic and regional politics. Bolivia’s campaign for Pacific Ocean access has been central to Evo Morales’ presidency. And China’s disputed claims to the South China Sea are a significant driver of political tensions with the affected countries. But recently resolved conflicts, including a long-standing dispute between Australia and East Timor over access to natural gas fields, demonstrates that diplomacy can still be an effective tool.

• Why tensions are rising between Vietnam and China, in What’s Behind China and Vietnam’s Latest Standoff in the South China Sea?
• How Brexit could exacerbate tensions in Europe over fishing rights, in Can Brexiteers Really ‘Take Back Control’ of British Fisheries?
• Why a group of islands, and the water around them, is a central sticking point in Japan-Russia relations, in Will Abe Be the Japanese Leader to Finally Sign a Peace Treaty With Russia?
  

Illegal Fishing

Every fifth fish caught in the world is netted illegally, undermining efforts to officially address the alarming problems caused by overfishing. But with global fish stocks declining by as much as 50 percent, there is mounting pressure to address overfishing—and the governments, including China, that encourage it. Failure to do so could be catastrophic for food systems and economies around the world.

• Why a new U.N. convention might be the best—and last—hope for marine preservation, in Why the U.N. Pact on High Seas Biodiversity Is Too Important to Fail
• How organized crime is pushing several endangered ocean species toward extinction, in As Mexico Tries to Curb Illegal Fishing, Drug Cartels and Fishermen Push Back
• Why illegal fishing has become a national security issue, in The Next Resource War May Be Over Illegal Fishing. Is the U.S. Ready?

Naval Rivalries

Countries around the world are improving their navies and stepping up their naval activities. That includes China, which has made qualitative and quantitative improvements, but also France and India. All of this stands in contrast to the United States’ unwillingness to invest in better preparedness for its own fleet.

• What a naval base deal in Cambodia means for China’s global ambitions, in The Ramifications of China’s Reported Naval Base in Cambodia
• Why France is increasing its naval activities in Asia, in How Will France’s Growing Naval Presence in Asia Affect Its China Ties?
• On the qualitative improvements China is making to its fleet, in China’s Naval Buildup Is a Real Challenge to the U.S. Navy’s Dominance

Piracy

Piracy remains a problem, particularly in remote, conflict-ridden areas. Countries are increasingly working collaboratively to address this problem, but these efforts are often reactive. Because global waters will always remain difficult to police, lasting solutions to piracy depend more on providing economic opportunities to citizens onshore than eliminating piracy on the water.

• How piracy in southeast Asia is evolving despite efforts to tackle it, in Why Southeast Asia Remains a Hotbed for Piracy
• Why piracy remains a persistent problem off the coast of Somalia, in What’s Behind the Resurgence in Piracy Off Somalia’s Coast

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published in June 2019 and is regularly updated.