The oceans as new regions: emerging narratives and the Bay of Bengal

Abstract

ABSTRACT Traditionally geo-political spatial imaginations have been restricted to the continental expanse with the understanding that oceans formed the shared commons. However, he delimitation of oceanic spaces as ‘natural regions’ is therefore increasingly becoming as significant today to strategic discourse as continental spaces and subject to similar terminological transformations. This article argues that the emergence of a common narrative built around historical interactions along sea lanes, the re-conceptualization of ocean spaces and the increasing recognition of the significance of ‘Blue Economy’ calls for a critical understanding of ocean spaces. In the twenty-first century this has become a structural component of international politics expanding into a wider array of policy fields in a way that was seldom evident even in the last decade of the previous century, when the mapping of oceans assumed critical political relevance. In this background, this article examines the emergence of the Bay of Bengal as a ‘new’ region with associated regional organizations.