Handbook

This course examines the challenges Australia faces in safeguarding both its own maritime domain and championing the ‘rules based order’ at sea in a rapidly evolving Indo-Pacific context. These range from non-traditional security threats such as narcotics smuggling and illegal fishing, to maritime boundary disputes, to ‘grey zone’ geopolitical contestation playing out between coastguards and maritime militias instead of navies in the South and East China Sea.

The course will provide an introduction to the rules-based order at sea and UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as the ‘constitution for the oceans’ governing both maritime law-enforcement operations and securing our sea lines of communication. The course will explore both the importance of adherence to international laws and norms governing maritime activities and attempts to re-shape that order for strategic advantage. This is significant not only in the efforts of China as a rising power to reshape elements of the maritime order but also, for example, in the campaigning of Pacific Island States to prepare for a future in which they may be de-territorialized by rising sea levels.

By studying this course, you will gain an understanding of the legal, diplomatic, and operational aspects of upholding the rules-based order.