ABSTRACT
There is an old adage of international environmental management: ‘Think globally, act regionally and nationally’. This applies as much with maritime security and good order at sea as with most other areas of international regime building. The global thinking on maritime security has largely been done and translated into numerous international regimes. The international community generally knows what is required to ensure the safety and security of shipping and seaborne trade. The challenge now is to apply the international regimes at the regional and national levels. This is proving problematic in some parts of the world, including Southeast Asia, where countries have conflicting national priorities and most lack the capacity to implement international regimes effectively and provide maritime security in waters under national jurisdiction. As a consequence, we still lack good order at sea in Southeast Asia. This is manifest in the concerns increasingly expressed by non-regional countries about the level of piracy and armed attacks against ships in the region, as well as in the recognized potential for acts of maritime terrorism.
