ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the local knowledge of regional maritime issues that is an important basis for later chapters. It reviews significant issues with the contemporary regional maritime environment. These factors may be classified as either enduring features of the contemporary scene or as dynamic ones. Freedoms of navigation and the law of the sea more generally have become important strategic issues in Asia-Pacific region. A major ‘stumbling block’ to a broader common understanding of freedoms of navigation, and the law of the sea more generally, lies in domestic politics. The maritime environment dominates the strategic geography of the Asia-Pacific region. Achieving straight line maritime boundaries and clear sovereign jurisdiction over maritime areas and marine resources in such a region is an extremely difficult task. The Indonesian archipelago is a major barrier to sea movement between the Indian and Pacific Ocean. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
