It is clear from this brief review of previous attempts at developing regional maritime awareness and information exchange that there are many problems to overcome before successful systems can be introduced. These include:

　

 The fundamental problem with building regional maritime awareness is that realist theory prevails and States tend to act solely in their self-interest. Many examples of this are evident in the maritime domain yet the development of some sense of altruism is essential if we are to move ahead with an effective maritime conflict prevention system. The interconnectivity of the seas and of natural ecosystems generally requires that countries must cooperate to achieve optimum outcomes to maximize the common good of Ocean Security. The maritime environment can only suffer while realism prevails at sea.

　

 Cooperation on maritime issues in East Asia remains underdeveloped. The European²⁰ and South Pacific²¹ regions have demonstrated the importance of over-arching political frameworks as a fundamental prerequisite of effective maritime management regimes at a regional level. These frameworks have facilitated the development of a regional approach to issues such as maritime safety and the prevention of ship-sourced marine pollution. An action plan to develop a maritime conflict prevention system must recognize the limitations of the current regional political security framework.

　

 Several issues are clear. First, the region needs to develop a higher degree of maritime awareness. Secondly, the geography of the region and scarcity of resources mean that developing this awareness requires a higher level of cooperation than exists at present, particularly in the enclosed and semi-enclosed seas of East Asia. Thirdly, past attempts at developing a cooperative approach to related issues have generally not been successful. Finally, the introduction of the ISPS Code and the new emphasis on the potential terrorist threat, as well as the ongoing incidence of piracy and armed robberies at sea, require that we revisit the task of building better knowledge of the regional marine environment and information sharing.

　

 A possible way ahead involves a "building block" approach to achieving a higher level of maritime awareness, including an appreciation of the benefits of cooperation. This might be a three-tiered approach starting with some basic initiatives to promote maritime awareness and information sharing (Tier One), and then moving through digital databases (Tier Two) to the ultimate objective of real-time maritime surveillance and information exchange (Tier Three).

　

 The idea of regional maritime workshops to promote maritime awareness and coordinate work between different agencies should be opened up again. The concept and objectives of possible workshops are given in the Annex to this paper. These workshops would reflect the inter-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and international approach evident in the work of the Institute for Ocean Policy of the SOF. They would bring together middle-level practitioners from the many different regional and national agencies involved with securing the oceans for the future. They would help establish an epistemic community of maritime practitioners who share a common understanding of particular problems of the maritime domain.

　

 Arrangements for the exchange of maritime information are underdeveloped in the region. Existing examples of maritime information sharing include the marine data center established by China in response to the ARF initiative, the MIED and the international Piracy Reporting Centre of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in Kuala Lumpur collecting data on piracy and armed robberies against ships. Enhanced arrangements for the collection and exchange of maritime information might be investigated.

　

 Advances in information technology have facilitated the compilation of databases and the exchange of information between different users and collectors of data. Digital maritime databases may contain an array of hydrographic, oceanographic, geographic, shipping route and traffic, port infrastructure and marine incidents (e.g. collisions, groundings and piracy attacks) data. This data can be analyzed and causal relationships investigated. The SMIS is an example of such a digital marine database.

　

 Data on maritime activity, to the extent that it exists at present, is available only at a national level. Many authorities collect relevant information on a national basis but often this data collection is often not even coordinated at a national level, let alone a regional one. There would be many potential benefits in establishing a free-access, open-source regional database. In particular, there is not a good database of what ships are moving where in the region and with what cargo. Significant barriers exist to the collection of this data, including commercial confidentiality and political sensitivities, but an effective response to maritime terrorism and piracy requires that the issue be pursued.

　

 The movements of ships on passage need to be monitored, particularly in coastal or congested waters. However, the shore side institutional arrangements to manage information on what is happening at sea and to respond to shipping security alerts are missing. This is not just information on shipping activities but might cover also fishing, marine scientific research, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, and so on. The idea of a comprehensive RMSSAR should be explored in forums such as APEC, the ARF and WPNS.

　

 The activities discussed above might lead to, or be associated with, the implementation of more ambitious arrangements for cooperative maritime security such as the ocean peacekeeping project developed by researchers at the National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo between 1996 and 2000²². This involved naval forces being used in joint activities for the protection of the environment such as monitoring the movement and operations of fishing vessels and evidence of ship-sourced marine pollution.

　

 However, some countries might now prefer to use their coast guards for this purpose. Coast guard vessels may be more suitable than warships for employment in sensitive areas where there are conflicting claims to maritime jurisdiction and/or political tensions between parties. Regional coast guards are expanding rapidly²³. Bangladesh, the Philippines and Vietnam have all established coast guards and Malaysia and Indonesia are following suit. The anti-piracy operations by the Japan Coast Guard in Southeast Asian waters demonstrate the use of coast guards as instruments of foreign policy. The ultimate objective may well be a regional coast guard organization to provide for Ocean Security in the region.

　

 We frequently talk about regional maritime cooperation and its presumed benefits but there are some paradoxes. UNCLOS as the most wide-ranging, global maritime regime provides an agreed legal basis for enclosure of a significant proportion of the "global commons" by extending areas that can be claimed as territorial seas and continental shelves and leading to EEZ claims often overlapping those of a neighbor. UNCLOS thus supports nationalistic approaches to managing the maritime domain although, as has been noted, it also provides strong support for cooperation between States. This conceptual dichotomy is very apparent in the seas of East Asia and bears quite fundamentally on the prospects for maritime cooperation and regime building in these seas.

　

 Countries in East Asia share significant maritime interests but sources of conflict exist at sea largely because of the uncertain strategic environment, the incidence of maritime sovereignty disputes, and major jurisdictional problems, especially the lack of agreed maritime boundaries. Additional risks arise as a consequence of high economic growth making regional countries more dependent on SLOCs, increasing their demand for marine resources and facilitating higher expenditure on naval arms.

　

 Maritime awareness is generally lacking in the region at present but is fundamental to the implementation of a stable maritime regime and an effective regional response to terrorism and piracy. However, despite the clear benefits of improved awareness to all regional countries, past experience suggests that there are numerous obstacles to overcome before effective and enduring cooperative arrangements are introduced. An action plan to build an effective maritime conflict prevention system might start "small" with some modest awareness building activities such as outlined above. Quite simply we need to get confidence building and preventive diplomacy measures back on the agenda again.

　

　

　

 The objectives of the workshops should be to:

　

 The workshops should be both a socializing, educational experience and a forum for the generation of ideas and problem solving. Attendees should be sufficiently senior that they are able to contribute ideas. For example: