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The Asia-Pacific maritime domain has become central to a worldwide economic growth dependent on open sea lines and secure ports. Island nations like Japan and those of Southeast Asia rely heavily on the sea for resources and trade. China, whose global orientation is increasingly maritime-based, has a particular stake in
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maintaining free and secure passage on the seas. Yet competition over resource development, regional instability, and the security of global supply chains continues to affect the stability of this nexus of international commerce. How will competition over resource development play out in the coming years, especially in the East China Sea? How will trade be affected by piracy and other threats that endanger safe passage? Will India's increasing economic and diplomatic relationships with countries in the region counter China's expanding influence? What should be done about nontraditional maritime security issues such as sea lines of communication, shipping routes, world trade, and resource development?
These and other questions were discussed by AEI resident fellow Dan Blumenthal, a commissioner of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission; U.S. Chamber of Commerce expert in trade and security Adam Salerno; AEI adjunct scholar and former U.S. Commerce Department official Neena Shenai; and Captain Gordon Van Hook of the Maersk Line. AEI resident scholar Michael Auslin, who directs AEI's Japan studies program, moderated the discussion.
| 2:15 p.m. |
Registration | |
| 2:30 | Panelists: | Dan Blumenthal, AEI |
| Adam Salerno, U.S. Chamber of Commerce | ||
| Neena Shenai, AEI | ||
| Captain Gordon Van Hook, Maersk Line | ||
| Moderator: | Michael Auslin, AEI | |
| 4:00 | Adjournment |
WASHINGTON, JANUARY 28, 2010--At an AEI event, experts examined how maritime lines of communication, shipping routes, and world trade interconnect with traditional security challenges in the Asia-Pacific. "The one underlying feature of Asia is that it is a maritime domain," AEI resident scholar Michael Auslin said, adding that a key focus of U.S. policy in Asia should be "the maritime sinews that connect the economic development and the exchange of peoples and ideas, as well as security challenges that the Asian nations face."
AEI adjunct scholar Neena Shenai likened the Asia-Pacific maritime domain to a game of chess, in which the "strategic landscape is dynamic and constantly changing." Noting China's insatiable need for resources to build a strong economy to support the PRC regime, Shenai mapped out Chinese ports and naval bases from the Strait of Hormuz up to the East China Sea. Chinese military and economic presence along this oil transport route, known as the "String of Pearls," is key to Beijing's maritime strategy, Shenai illustrated.
Continuing with the geostrategic theme, AEI resident fellow Dan Blumenthal explained that maritime security is defined by the specific national interests of each country acting in the Asia-Pacific. Blumenthal pointed out that a significant portion of the world's trade passes through very weak states in Asia, and therefore it is crucial to maintain a strong U.S. presence in the region to promote peace and prosperity. Concerned with the shrinking U.S. maritime fleet in the region, Blumenthal cautioned that the United States will need to do more with fewer resources, especially in the face of a rising China.
Examining the economic angle, Captain Gordon Van Hook of Maersk Line said that trade in Asia is not a mass exodus of exports but rather a complex web. He stressed that industry has an important role to play in maritime security. "Rather than focus on asymmetric threats, we should focus on asymmetric opportunities," Van Hook said, and he encouraged cooperation instead of competition within the industry to make the seas safe for trade. Adam Salerno of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also picked up on this theme but focused on the role of the government in promoting free and safe passage on the seas. Salerno stressed the importance of a balance between trade and security when proposing legislation that affects the supply chain and port security.
--LESLIE FORGACH
Speaker biographies
Michael Auslin, AEI's director of Japan studies, specializes in U.S.-East Asian relations, Asian maritime security, and Japanese foreign and security policy. Prior to joining AEI, Mr. Auslin was an associate professor of history and a senior research fellow at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. He has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund, and a Fulbright and Japan Foundation Scholar. His writings on Japan and Japanese diplomacy include the books Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy and Japan Society: Celebrating a Century, 1907–2007, and the report Securing Freedom: The U.S.-Japanese Alliance in a New Era.
Dan Blumenthal joined AEI in November 2004 as a resident fellow in Asian studies. He has served on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission since 2005, serving as vice chairman in 2007, and as a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the Congressional U.S.-China Working Group. Previously, Mr. Blumenthal was senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the first George W. Bush administration. In addition to writing for AEI's Asian Outlook series, he has written articles and op-eds for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, National Review, and numerous edited volumes. He is currently working on a manuscript that will examine divides within the China policymaking community.
Adam Salerno is a senior manager in the National Security and Emergency Preparedness Department at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for the chamber's initiatives regarding supply chain, cargo, transportation, and trade, and he oversees the chamber's Supply Chain Security Working Group. In this capacity, he works with Congress, the executive branch, and the business community to advance probusiness regulation and legislation that seeks to find the appropriate balance between trade and security. Prior to joining the chamber, Mr. Salerno worked as a business liaison in the Department of Homeland Security's Private Sector Office, where he focused on policy related to travel and tourism, immigration, Customs and Border Protection, and the Transportation Security Administration and oversaw the department's activities pertaining to the Secure Border Open Doors Advisory Council. Previously, Mr. Salerno spent four years working for Babson Capital Management LLC, a subsidiary of MassMutual Financial Group.
Neena Shenai joined AEI as an adjunct scholar in April 2009. She focuses on the intersection of U.S. international trade and national security policy. Previously, Ms. Shenai was a senior adviser in the Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Before serving in the George W. Bush administration, she was an attorney in the international trade group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Ms. Shenai has also worked in the Rules Division at the World Trade Organization and was a law clerk for Judge Evan J. Wallach at the U.S. Court of International Trade.
Gordon Van Hook is currently with Maersk Line, Limited, as their senior director for innovation and concept development. Captain Van Hook focuses on ways that U.S. maritime services can leverage commercial best practices and innovation. He also assists in maintaining an active dialog between industry and government on maritime security issues. He recently retired from the U.S. Navy after twenty-nine years. He was the chief engineer on USS Samuel B. Roberts when it struck a mine in the Persian Gulf in 1988 during "the Tanker War," and he was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for his actions to save the ship. Captain Van Hook later commanded USS O'Bannon and served as the operations officer for the Fifth Fleet to launch Operation Enduring Freedom after 9/11. Ashore, Captain Van Hook served as a program manager with the NATO C3 Agency, as the C4I cell director for the assistant chief of naval operations for surface warfare, as the deputy director for maritime security cooperation, and as a senior fellow on the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Strategic Studies Group. In his final job in the Navy, he served as the executive director of the CNO Executive Panel, a group of thirty-two civilian leaders from government, industry, and academia that provides advice to the CNO on issues of strategy, policy, technology, and innovation.
