Blue security
A maritime exchange project
The Blue Security Program engages with and facilitates high quality research on issues of critical maritime security across the Indo-Pacific.
Bringing together leading regional experts in politics, international law and strategic studies, Blue Security focuses on three key pillars of maritime security: order, law and power.
Blue Security is a collaboration between La Trobe Asia, Griffith Asia Institute (GAI), University of New South Wales Canberra (ADFA), University of Western Australia’s Defence and Security Institute (DSI), United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D). It produces working papers, commentaries, and scholarly publications related to maritime security for audiences across the Indo-Pacific.
Blue Security receives funding support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia.
You can follow Blue Security on: X, LinkedIn, YouTube and Linktree.
Publications
- Issue 17: Cooperation Mechanisms for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in Maritime Southeast Asia.
Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh
- Issue 16: Securing the blue energy future: offshore wind and the protection of critical infrastructure at sea in Southeast Asia and Australia.
Dawoon Jung, Febryani Sabatira and Camille Goodman
- Issue 15: Maritime Security and the Blue Economy in Southeast Asia: Linkages, Impacts and Prospects.
Prakash Gopal and Lucky Wuwung
- Issue 14: Strategic Culture and Indonesian Approach to Maritime “Rules-Based Order".
Muhamad Arif
- Issue 13: Avoiding “Navigation” as an Issue that Shipwrecks Indonesia’s Relationships with the Status Quo Sea Powers.
John Bradford & Aristyo Darmawan
- Issue 12: A Parallel South China Sea Dispute.
Alex P. Dela Cruz
- Issue 11: Securing Our Data: Subsea Cables and Maritime Security in Southeast Asia.
Cynthia Mehboob and Fitriani
- Issue 10: Capacity-building under the BBNJ Agreement: Benefits, Opportunities and Implementation Challenges for Southeast Asia.
Sarah Lothian, Zaki Mubarok, Ahmad Almaududy Amri and Jacqueline Joyce Espenilla
- Issue 9: Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Perception and misperception in the South China Sea.
Nell Bennett
- Issue 8: Creating and Implementing Effective Marine and Blue Economy Policies.
Asmiati A Malik and Bustanul Arifin
- Issue 7: The use of ‘Lawfare’ in the South China Sea Disputes: Views from the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Leonardo Bernard, Lowell Bautista, Jane Chan and Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, June 2024.
- Issue 6: Coordinating for maritime security: Southeast Asia’s evolving institutions.
Gusti Bagus Dharma Agasti, Kasira Cheeppensook, Scott Edwards, Amparo Pamela Fabe, May 2024
- Issue 5: Assessing Southeast Asia’s Maritime Governance Capacity.
Thu Nguyen Hoang Ang, Chansambath Bong, Tangguh Chairil, Ivy Ganadilio, Fikry A. Rahman, Say Xian Hong and Tita Sanglee, April 2024
- Issue 4: The Impact of Covid-19 on Maritime Piracy in the Singapore Strait: A Routine Activity Theory Analysis.
Dhiyaul Aulia Huda and Jade Lindley, September 2023.
- Issue 3: Fair Winds and Following Seas: Maritime Security & Hedging in the South China Sea.
Hunter Marston, Bich Tran, Elina Noor and Richard Javad Heydarian, August 2023.
- Issue 2: Sea Level Rise and Implications for Maritime Security in Southeast Asia.
Tara Davenport & Maria Pia Benosa, July 2023.
- Issue 1: What does it look like for Australia and Southeast Asia to develop a joint agenda for maritime security.Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue, April 2023.
- Australia-South Korea Maritime Capacity Building Cooperation in Southeast Asia During the Lee Jae Myung Administration
In Australian Outlook - Dongkeun Lee published 6 August 2025 - Securing Southeast Asian waters: Formalising the role of the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum
In The Interpreter - Su Wai Mon, Thư Nguyễn Hoàng Anh and Jonathan Gabriel Mendoza published 4 Februrary 2025 - Why has the Philippines made a dramatic turnaround on the question of archipelagos in the law of the sea
In The Interpreter – Alex P Dela Cruz published 19 November 2024 - Has Indonesia fallen into China’s nine-dash line trap?
In The Interpreter – Aristyo Rizka Darmawan published 12 November 2024 - Australia needs a coast guard to fight and win in the grey zone
In The Strategist – Nell Bennett, published 30 August 2024 - Australia-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation: A focus on the whole risks losing sight of the parts
In The Interpreter – Thư Nguyễn Hoàng Anh, published 20 August 2024 - Second Thomas Shoal & the Use of ‘Lawfare’ in the South China Sea
In Facts Asia – Leonardo Bernard and Lowell Bautista, published 5 August 2024 - Strengthening Australia-ASEAN Cooperation in Maritime Cybersecurity
In ISEAS Fulcrum – Su Wai Mon, published 12 March 2024 - Out of the Blue: Rising to the Challenges of Australia's Maritime Diplomacy
In The Diplomat – Tom Bamforth, Tom Barber & Grant Wyeth, published 19 December 2023 - ASEAN maritime security and what next week’s navy exercise mean
In The Interpreter – Tom Barber, published 14 September 2023. - How ASEAN Can Win Its War Against Illegal and Unregulated Fishing
In The Diplomat - Asmiati Malik, published 17 August 2023. - Australia needs an overarching maritime security strategy
In The Strategist – Tom Barber & Melissa Conley Tyler, published 9 August 2023. - Why ASEAN nations need to jointly fund their fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
In The Conversation - Asmiati Malik, published 4 August 2023. - Challenges to Submarine Cable Connectivity in Southeast Asia and the Implications for Regional States
In Maritime Institute of Malaysia – Jeslyn Tan, published 20 July 2023. - The Five Power Defence Arrangements: How to Sail Past Fifty
In Fulcrum – David Andrews, published 13 June 2023. - Taiwan Contingencies and Southeast Asia: Scenarios in the Gray Zone
In Fulcrum – Andrew Chubb, published 9 June 2023. - Vietnam seeks safer maritime security partnerships
In East Asia Forum – Minh Phuong Vu, published 5 May 2023. - Tensions in South China Sea continue, but ASEAN successfully resolves maritime disputes
In Jakarta Post, Bec Strating & Troy Lee-Brown, published 3 May 2023. - Survival, Success and the Sea: The Importance of UNCLOS to Singapore
In The Strait Times - Tara Davenport, published 15 September 2022. - Navigating Maritime Security in the Bay of Bengal
In East Asia Forum - Troy Lee Brown, published 13 August 2022. - Philippine-China Relations: From Duterte to Marcos
In Facts Asia - Charmaine Misalucha-Willoughby, published 8 July 2022. - Why Asean littoral states should worry about Cambodia's Ream base
In The Strait Times - Blake Herzinger, published 5 July 2022.
- A series of articles in collaboration with Melbourne Asia Review
- INTRODUCTION: Shipping supply chains in Asia are being tested by global crisis
Bec Strating & Troy Lee-Brown, 3 June 2024 - Insights from the COVID-19 pandemic regarding maritime supply chains with a focus on Southeast Asia
Jasmine Siu Lee Lam, 3 June 2024 - Geoeconomic trends and maritime supply chain resilience: What’s next for the Indo-Pacific?
Hanizah Idris, 3 June 2024 - Securing the backbone: Security challenges to and governance of submarine cables in the Indo-Pacific
Jeslyn Tan, 3 June 2024 - Ports play in hydrogen supply chains in the Indo-Pacific
Peggy Shu-Ling Chen & Prashant Bhaskar, 3 June 2024 - The deepening climate emergency for Pacific domestic shipping supply chains and what can be done
Peter Nuttall, 3 June 2024 - The challenges of cleaner fuels for shipping supply chains
Peter Cook, 3 June 2024 - Security surveillance, protection from maritime crime and piracy in Southeast Asia
John Bradford, 3 June 2024 - Migrant fishers from Southeast Asia are increasingly subject to forced labour and human trafficking
Sallie Yea, 3 June 2024 - Tides of change: Steering towards improved mariner safety and welfare in the Indo-Pacific can be improved
Mary Ann Palma-Robles and Lowell Bautista, 3 June 2024 - Indo-Pacific fish stocks face multiple challenges
Andreas Aditya Salim, 3 June 2024
- A series of articles in collaboration with Melbourne Asia Review
- INTRODUCTION: Maritime Boundary Disputes in Southeast Asia
Nicole Jenne, 27 April 2023. - Lessons from successful maritime dispute resolutions in the Indo-Pacific
Bec Strating & Troy Lee-Brown, 3 April 2023.
- Maritime Boundary diplomacy in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea has been the key to economic prosperity
Tharishini Krishnan, 27 April 2023. - Maritime Boundary Disputes in the Celebes Sea
Jay Batongbacal, 27 April 2023. - The Straits of Malacca and Singapore
Leonardo Bernard, 27 April 2023.
- A series of articles in collaboration with Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
- Assessing Thailand’s Maritime Governance Capacity: Priorities and Challenges
Tita Sanglee, 10 January 2024 - Assessing Vietnam’s Maritime Governance Capacity: Priorities and Challenges
Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh, 10 January 2024 - Assessing the Philippines’ Maritime Governance Capacity: Priorities and Challenges
Ivy Ganadillo, 6 December 2023 - Assessing Malaysia’s Maritime Governance Capacity: Priorities and Challenges
Fikry A. Rahman, 6 December 2023 - Assessing Singapore’s Maritime Governance Capacity: Priorities and Challenges
Say Xian Hong, 6 December 2023 - Assessing Indonesia's Maritime Governance Capacity: Priorities and Challenges
Tangguh Chairil, 21 November 2023 - Assessing Cambodia’s Maritime Governance Capacity: Priorities and Challenges
Chansambath Bong, 21 November 2023. - Maritime Governance Policy and Priorities in Southeast Asia
John Bradford & Bec Strating, 21 November 2023. - Introduction: Assessing Southeast Asia’s Maritime Governance Capacity
21 November 2023.
About:
Project leads
- Professor Rebecca Strating
(Director, La Trobe Asia, La Trobe University) - Professor Ian Hall
(Deputy Director (Research), Griffith Asia Institute) - Professor Douglas Guilfoyle
(Head, Maritime Security Research Group ,UNSW Canberra) - Professor Peter Dean
(Director, Foreign Policy and Defence, United States Studies Centre) - Melissa Conley Tyler
(Executive Director, Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue)
Project manager
- Dr Troy Lee-Brown
(Research Fellow, Defence and Security Institute, University of Western Australia)
Emerging scholars program
- Kate Clayton
(Senior Coordinator (Research & Programs)
Alex Dela Cruz
Alex P. Dela Cruz is an early-career legal academic interested in the broad entanglements between international law, empire, and oceans. He joins Tilburg University from The University of Melbourne in Australia, where his PhD thesis is under examination. At Tilburg, Alex works with Dr Richard Clements on a project that maps the use and effects of legal and managerial expertise in global contexts.
His recent work includes the Oceans chapter of The Oxford Handbook of International Law and Development (OUP, 2023) and the Law of the Sea chapter (co-authored) of the textbook Public International Law: A Multi-Perspective Approach (Routledge, 2024).
Previously, Alex practised as a litigator for the Philippine government and taught law in Manila.
He earned an LLM from The University of Melbourne as an Endeavour Postgraduate Scholar in 2017 and holds JD and BA degrees from the University of the Philippines.
Muhammad Arif
Arif is a PhD scholar at the School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, researching Indonesian maritime strategy in the South China Sea. His research focuses on how threat perception and government strength shape Indonesia's choice between coercive and diplomatic approaches in the region.
Alongside his PhD studies, Arif is a lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Universitas Indonesia. Previously, he worked as a researcher for the ASEAN Studies Program of The Habibie Center, a Jakarta-based think-tank, focusing on regional security issues, and the Center for Social Integrity, a Myanmar-based NGO concentrating on humanitarian issues. Arif’s research interests span the intersection between domestic politics and foreign policy, maritime security, and strategic culture.
His works have been published in the Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, Melbourne Asia Review, and the Indonesian Quarterly. Arif earned his MSc in Strategic Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, and holds a bachelor's degree from the Department of International Relations, Universitas Indonesia.
Nell Bennett
Dr Nell Bennett is an Australian researcher who specialises in regional and international security issues. She holds a PhD in political science from Macquarie University and a Master of Research in security studies.
Dr. Bennett is the Managing Editor of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Coordinator of the AVERT Research Network, and is a barrister at the Victorian Bar.
Su Wai Mon
Su Wai Mon is currently a research fellow (Oceans law & Policy) at the Centre for International law, National University of Singapore. Before joining CIL, Su was a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya. She was also a research fellow at UM’s Malaysian Centre of Regulatory Studies; an associate member of UM’s Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES); a member of the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA); an adjunct professor at Woxen University; and a member of the Special Interest Group on the Ocean Thermal Energy Driven Development for Sustainability at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. Su spent a month at CIL from 15 September-15 October 2023 as a visiting scholar and presented her research on maritime cybersecurity. Su is also an Adjunct Research Fellow in the Division of Graduate and Global Research at La Trobe University in Australia.
While serving at the University of Malaya, Su was awarded the Certificate of Excellent Service by the University. She also successfully secured the competitive Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) Grants awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for two consecutive years 2021 and 2022 for the projects entitled “Formulating a Legal and Regulatory Framework for Protection of Submarine Cables in Malaysia” and “Maritime Cybersecurity: Formulating a Legal and Risk Management Framework in Malaysia” respectively.
She has a special research interest in emerging technologies and maritime security, cybersecurity in the maritime domain, and submarine cables governance.
Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh
Thu Nguyen Hoang Anh is pursuing a PhD in Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Concurrently, she is a member of the Young Leaders Program at the Pacific Forum.
She holds an MA in Transnational Governance from the European University Institute and a BA in International Relations from Tokyo International University. Previously, she was an intern at the Fisheries and Aquaculture Unit, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Her research interests include International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, maritime security, and public policy.