ABSTRACT
This review of naval modernization in South-east Asia shows how very difficult it is to generalize about the causes and hence the consequences of naval modernization in the sub-region. This is a quite small area geographically but one that yields a perhaps surprisingly diverse array of unique and distinctive navies. They vary in size, competence and aspiration. The political and economic contexts in which they operate are very different; they have different mission sets and often different problems in acquiring the capabilities needed to perform them. Moreover, in many of the countries of the sub-region it is possible to detect diverse internal schools of thought both about those missions and about how they should be performed, perhaps most obviously in the debate between navies and coastguard forces about their respective duties in the defence of maritime security. But, having said that, it is possible to see a number of emerging themes that apply, more or less, to most if not all of them. These themes seem to come in three broad categories, namely,
• policy drivers, which help us understand the motivation behind naval modernization in South-east Asia;
• policy enablers, which comprise the basic requirements of naval modernization, the extent or lack of which will determine the success of naval modernization;
• policy consequences, which illustrate the results that naval modernization may have in the area, and more widely.
