In this stimulating and authoritative overview, Michael Pearson reverses the traditional angle of maritime history and looks from the sea to its shores - its impact on the land through trade, naval power, travel and scientific exploration. This vast ocean, both connecting and separating nations, has shaped many countries' cultures and ideologies through the movement of goods, people, ideas and religions across the sea. The Indian Ocean moves from a discussion of physical elements, its shape, winds, currents and boundaries, to a history from pre-Islamic times to the modern period of European dominance. Going far beyond pure maritime history, this compelling survey is an invaluable addition to political, cultural and economic world history.

First published in 2007, this book focuses on the security of sea lanes of communication. It was a joint publication between the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) and the Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG) and is an important book for three particular reasons. First, it takes a step forward in identifying key policy themes that can be applied to interstate cooperation around the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Second, the particular theme discussed is not only central to the economic well-being of Indian Ocean countries, but also to many of the world’s most important trading states, and finally the various discussions within the book raise a host of issues to which regional as well as non-regional policy-makers should give serious consideration.

During the past 10 years following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, invaluable lessons have been learned and great changes have been observed. Immediately after the disaster, the second World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held in Kobe, Japan, and formulated the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA: 2005–2015). HFA provided a platform and framework for changes and innovations, many of which were part of the recovery programs in the different countries affected by the 2004 disaster. This book is a modest attempt to review the lessons learned through the recovery process in the affected region. The book has 31 chapters, drawing lessons from four countries: India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. There are five sections: Overview (10 chapters), Indonesia (8 chapters), India (6 chapters), Sri Lanka (5 chapters), and Thailand (2 chapters). The primary target groups for this book are students and researchers in the fields of disaster risk reduction, environment, and development. The book provides them with a good idea of the current research trends and lessons over the past decade of recovery initiatives. Another target group comprises practitioners and policy makers, who will be able to apply the knowledge collected here to establishing policy and making decisions.

The Indian Ocean world has a rich history of socio-economic and cultural exchanges across time and space. This book and its companion, Connecting the Indian Ocean World explore these connections around the wider Indian Ocean world. The book looks at the extensive range of maritime networks that criss-crossed pre-modern Asia and the Indian Ocean region connecting ports, peoples and cultures. It explores the connected histories of these regions and the movement of merchants, commodities and money which created the multi-cultural and cosmopolitan port cities like Surat and Nagasaki. With contributions from Indian and Japanese scholars, the volume analyses travellers’ accounts and trade routes between Japan and India, offering insights into how maritime movement shaped culture, politics and the social life of people in the most populated and productive regions of the world in the early modern period. Rich in archival material, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of Indian Ocean history, maritime history, economic and commercial history, Asian and South Asian history and social anthropology.

Coral reefs are among Earth's most diverse, productive, and beautiful ecosystems, but until recently, their ecology and the means to manage them have been poorly understood and documented. In response to the inadequate information base for coral reefs, this book reviews the ecological and conservation status of coral reefs of the Western Indian Ocean, bringing together presentations of the region's leading scientists and managers working on coral reefs.Coral Reefs of the Indian Ocean: Their Ecology and Conservation starts with a general overview of the biogeography of the region and a historical account of attempts to conserve this ecosystem. It goes on to describe the state of the reefs in each of the countries with coral reefs, and it concludes with a series of management case studies.The book also summarizes most of the existing ecological information on reefs in this region and efforts at management, making it useful for students, teachers, and investigators interested in tropical or marine ecology, conservation biology and management, and environmental sciences.

This up-to-date analysis of the major political issues associated with the Indian Ocean region examines recent developments in South Asia, the Gulf, and Africa and their effect on Indian Ocean security matters and politics. Regional perspectives on the problems of the area are assessed, as are the roles played by the major external powers with regional interests-the United States, the Soviet Union, and France-and such international organizations as the United Nations. Nine of the chapters grew out of the International Conference on Indian Ocean Studies held in Perth, Australia, in August 1979. Three additional chapters were commissioned to ensure a comprehensive view of the issues discussed. This collaboration by recognized authorities is sure to become a standard reference in the field.

The report was written by senior scholars of international studies and Indian Ocean studies and focuses on international relations in Indian Ocean region and covers many aspects of “Indo-Pacific”. The report includes both strategic review and major events and related data in this region. This book also includes the origin, the aims, frameworks and regional and global impact of “Indo-Pacific”. The book includes the authors from 5 different institutes in China which provide readers with a full and authentic picture of “Indo-Pacific” most recent development. This year’s Annual Report is the Sixth of this kind and the only one which covers exclusive on the Indian Ocean region in China.

This book examines knowledge traditions that held together the fluid and overlapping maritime worlds of the Indian Ocean in the premodern period, as evident in the material and archaeological record. It breaks new ground by shifting the focus from studying cross-pollination of ideas from textual sources to identifying this exchange of ideas in archaeological and historical documentation. The themes covered in the book include conceptualization of the seas and maritime landscapes in Sanskrit, Arabic and Chinese narratives; materiality of knowledge production as indicated in the archaeological record of communities where writing on stone first appears; and anchoring the coasts, not only through an understanding of littoral shrines and ritual landscapes, but also by an analysis of religious imagery on coins, more so at the time of the introduction of new religions such as Islam in the Indian Ocean around the eighth century. This volume will be of great interest to researchers and scholars of archaeology, anthropology, museum and heritage studies, Indian Ocean studies, maritime studies, South and Southeast Asian studies, religious studies and cultural studies.

The Indian Ocean, with its critical routes for global commerce, is a potentially volatile location for geopolitical strife. Even as the region’s role in the international economy and as a highway to conflict zones increases, the US has failed to advance a coherent strategy for protecting its interests in the Indian Ocean or for managing complex diplomatic relationships across the region. The Indian Ocean and US Grand Strategy presents a range of viewpoints about whether and how the US should alter its diplomatic and military strategies for this region. Contributors examine US interests in the Indian Ocean, assess the relative critical importance or imperiled nature of these interests, and propose solutions for American strategy ranging from minimal change to maximum engagement. The book concludes with a comparative assessment of these options and a discussion of their implications for US policymakers. This volume’s perspectives and analysis of the Indian Ocean region will be valued by scholars and students of US foreign policy, South Asia, and security studies as well as by diplomats, military officers, and other practitioners.

This collection examines cloth as a material and consumer object from early periods to the twenty-first century, across multiple oceanic sites—from Zanzibar, Muscat and Kampala to Ajanta, Srivijaya and Osaka. It moves beyond usual focuses on a single fibre (such as cotton) or place (such as India) to provide a fresh, expansive perspective of the ocean as an “interaction-based arena,” with an internal dynamism and historical coherence forged by material exchange and human relationships. Contributors map shifting social, cultural and commercial circuits to chart the many histories of cloth across the region. They also trace these histories up to the present with discussions of contemporary trade in Dubai, Zanzibar, and Eritrea. Richly illustrated, this collection brings together new and diverse strands in the long story of textiles in the Indian Ocean, past and present.