Travelling pasts: the politics of cultural heritage in the Indian Ocean World

Abstract

towards the Korean Peninsula, but its historical complexes within this region have limited its role. The evolution of the South China Sea issue blurs the line between military and paramilitary actions which the author believes creates maritime security challenges for US and ASEAN. Chapter 9 is a case study of sea level rise in the Pearl River Delta, while Chapter 10 presents a good example of geopolitical calculation of energy and power, arguing ‘the restoration of American energy primacy and the shift in power from producers to consumers is favorable to the US strategy of forward defense through maritime power projection in Asia’ (p. 174). The resurgence of US oil and natural gas is the second chance for the US continuing its global hegemony. The last part of this volume ‘the Arctic & the future of the World’s Oceans’ includes 5 chapters which provide a relatively insightful observations of the less noticed Arctic. The balance between environmentalism and exploitation in the Arctic seems to be the key for the sustainable development which essentially means the balance between national interests and global interests (Chapter 11). Chapters 12 and 13 discuss two soft issues in the Arctic discourse, national imagination and fisheries. Chapter 12 calls for the US public to claim its Arctic interests by having a better understanding of the Arctic. Chapter 13 takes a more internationalist approach on fisheries management in the Arctic and explores the possible international governance for this issue. Chapter 14 again draws us back to the cruel reality of power competition in the Arctic between Russia and NATO. This volume is beneficial for readers to have a broader view on the maritime issues. This volume tries very hard to not mention the US in the title, the keywords Eurasia, Indian Ocean, Pacific Asia and the Arctic in the title do not link to the US directly, yet the shadow of the US is present in most of the chapters. Nationalism and internationalism in maritime security in this book are both included which somehow leads the reader forward and backward at the same time; a good example of the reality we are living with. Given the complexity of the issues discussed in this volume, the volume might have been better edited if it was categorized by issues rather than regions.