BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

THE UNITED STATES’ STRATEGY IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION: OFFSHORE BALANCING REVISITED

Author: Niloy Ranjan Biswas

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2012v33n4a5

ABSTRACT

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is a major strategic ocean theatre for the United States in the twenty-first century. The region is vital to secure economic and strategic interests of the US. The evolving nature of threats and the multidimensional rise of stakes in the region are also very crucial for US interests. Therefore, an emerging US strategic offshore balancing is of critical importance. Furthermore, there is a growing convergence of interests between the US and its allies in the Indian Ocean region and greater South Asia. This article thus, aims to explore the current US offshore balancing (OSB) strategies in the IOR to maintain its strategic supremacy and foster internal stability in the South Asian region. In doing so, this article analyses the IOR’s geopolitical and geostrategic context as well as its growing significance in recent decades. It also discusses merging security threats and prospective areas of interests for the US in the IOR. This article highlights the critical importance of non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, piracy, cross-border trafficking, and narco-crime-terrorism nexus, and the significance of growing Chinese and Indian influence in the region, along with the US’ need for a strategic space to conduct counterinsurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Finally, the article argues in favour of a long term strategic interdependence in the IOR between the US and its regional allies. This would lead towards a cost-effective tactical and strategic supremacy of the US in the region. This article stresses that rapidly evolving circumstances demand the need for the US to also revisit its implementation strategy of offshore balancing in the IOR. Developing a comprehensive offshore balancing strategy based on shared interests with allies in the region is the way forward for the US.