NESA Maritime Series: Indian Ocean Region Underwater Challenges Workshop
From 21 to 23 March 2022, the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies conducted a digital workshop that explored underwater security challenges in the wider Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The discussions discussed topics pertaining to military/security concerns, cyber and technological components, environmental considerations, and private sector perspectives on the underwater domain. Participants hailed from 19 different countries and provided their thoughts on what aspects of the underwater domain they feel should be prioritized by policymakers and their views on trend lines. NESA’s Director, LTG (ret) Terry Wolff kicked off the event and NESA’s Dean, Dr. Roger Kangas provided farewell remarks. NESA Center faculty member Professor David Des Roches served as a speaker with facilitation provided by Dr. Michael Sharnoff. Jeffrey Payne, NESA’s lead for IOR programs, led the event.
Speakers from top left: Jeffrey Payne (Course Director and Assistant Professor, NESA Center), LTG (Ret) Terry Wolff (Director, NESA Center), Nick Childs (Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security, the International Institute for Strategic Studies), Dr. Andrew Erickson (Strategic and Operational Research Department, United States Naval War College), Giulia Nicoloso (Manager, EU CRIMSON Project), Ryan Fedasiuk (Research Analyst, Center for Security and Emerging Technology), Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan (Director General, National Maritime Foundation), David Des Roches (Associate Professor, NESA Center), Louis Dugit-Gros (Visiting Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy), Dr. Xavier Bellekens (CEO, Lupovis.io and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council), VADM (Ret) Kevin M. Donegan (Senior Advisor (Non-resident), International Security Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Commander (Fmr.) U.S. Navy 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces), Dr. Collin Koh Swee Lean (Research Fellow and Coordinator of United States Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies), Nilanthi Samaranayake (Research Program Director, CAN), Dr. Sarah Kreps (John L. Wetherill Professor, Department of Government, and the Director of the Cornell Tech Policy Lab, Cornell University), Dr. Roger Kangas (Academic Dean, NESA Center)
The views presented in this article are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.
