Indian ocean : Conflict & regional cooperation / edited by Akhtar Majeed
- New Delhi ABC Publishing House 1986
- 239p.
The contemporary destive potential of the external powers, in the Indian Ocean region, is unprecedented in extent and dimension and is directed against each other as well as against the Third World. There is always the risk that this potential may escalate into a major international conflict, wiping not only international peace and security but the world itself. The varied conflicts in the Indian Ocean region have been exacerbated by the escalation of the new cold war between the Super Powers, and the security of the region has become a victim to steps which were supposedly meant to enhance the regional security. Unfortunately, implications of regional vulnerability have not been fully appreciated. This region is the poorest in the world and forms a substantial part of the 'South' in the North-South conflict. This conflict actually involves a struggle for the world product, and is hardly likely to be resolved by a few summit meetings. It is this light that the performance potential of regional cooperation attempts has to be analysed. What is needed is a correct appreciation of the threat to the Third World from the external intervention and concerted efforts for regional cooperation to meet such threats.
The present work is an exercise in this direction. An effort has been made to project the regional apprehensions about security, threat perceptions in conflict scenarios and, at the same time, efforts for regional cooperation. It is a study of the emergence of, what may be called, an Indian Ocean community consciousness.