Naval Cooperation: A View from Australia
Lieutenant Jenny Zhang, RAN, 2009 Winner Officer’s Section
In terms of world politics there are three types of relationships that govern interaction between states and their relationships, bilateral, multilateral and unilateral. This essay looks at the definition of unilateralism, bilateralism and multilateralism; the benefits and drawbacks of unilateralism, bilateralism and multilateralism in a political and global sense; current bilateral and multilateral cooperation in a maritime environment; and the ways that naval cooperation can lessen tensions between countries.
Unilateralism, Bilateralism and Multilateralism
Unilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports a single-sided action. Unilateralism is often seen as disregarding of other parties. However, unilateralism may be preferred in those instances when it’s assumed to be the most efficient, such as with issues that can be solved without cooperation. At the forefront of the unilateralism debate is the United States and the Iraq War. Many opponents of the war have argued that the United States is ‘going in alone’ in Iraq without the support of multilateral institutions – NATO and the United Nations (UN). This has caused much tension between the United States, NATO and the UN. Post World War II (WWII) Japan is an example where unilateralism has been successful. Japan took only five years before adopting its constitution. On the other hand, Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany for 45 years whilst being controlled by the United States, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union before being reunited. However one can argue that post-war Germany should not be seen as a failure on multilateralism due to the unilateral approach taken by Stalin and the Soviet Union post-WWII.
Bilateralism encompasses the political and cultural relations between two states. Most international diplomacy is done bilaterally. There is some debate on the merits of bilateralism versus multilateralism. The first major rejection of bilateralism came after World War I when many politicians agreed that the complex pre-war system of bilateral treaties had made the war inevitable. This led to the creation of the multilateral League of Nations. A similar reaction against bilateral trade agreements occurred after the Great Depression, when it was argued that such agreements helped to produce a cycle of rising tariffs that deepened the economic downturn. Thus after WWII, Western countries turned to multilateral agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Despite the high profile of modern multilateral systems such as the UN and the World Trade Organization, most diplomacy is still done at the bilateral level. Bilateralism is considered to be more flexible compared to most multilateral systems.
However when there is an inequality in power, resources, money, armament, or technology, there is a tendency for the stronger side to exploit the bilateral diplomacy.
Multilateralism is a term in international relations that refers to multiple countries working in concert on a given issue or task. International organisations, such as the UN and the World Trade Organization are multilateral in nature. The major supporters of multilateralism have traditionally been the middle powers such as Canada, Australia and the Nordic countries. Larger states (such as the United States) often act unilaterally, while the smaller ones may have little direct power in international affairs aside from participation in the UN.
Multilateralism is advantageous in certain issues where there are many stakeholders from various countries and on issues that can only be resolved by many countries working together. The stories of Franklin Roosevelt during WWII illustrate this point. He not only built alliances with Great Britain and the Soviet Union to fight the war against the Axis Powers of Japan and Germany, but he also began to build an organisation of the major powers that would also bring in the rest of the world’s countries. Roosevelt understood that the future security of the world would depend on effective cooperation. Roosevelt’s hope was that an effective Security Council with collective action could stop aggressors like Hitler and the Japanese from rising again. Roosevelt also saw that one of the reasons for WWII was that countries failed to cooperate in confronting Germany and Japan. If the big powers had worked together, they might have prevented the war altogether. However some argue that ‘large numbers create problems for states attempting to cooperate. Having many players can increase the conflicts of interest among them, uncertainty about others’ preferences’.[1] Multilateralism has a very large impact on global security, as this can only come about through a global organisation. Countries acting in a strictly unilateral or bilateral sense will tend to have a negative effect on global cooperation and security.
Current naval bilateral and multilateral operations and agreements include: port visits, fleet reviews, senior personnel visits; multilateral forums and conferences; maritime information exchange; bilateral or multilateral naval exercises.
Port visits, fleet reviews, senior personnel visits
This is perhaps the most basic of cooperative building blocks. Although these activities are commonplace between ally countries, they also provide the least controversial way of cooperation between states with little common political ground and actual or potential adversaries. The KAKADU ‘fleet concentration period’ hosted by Australia is a highly successful multilateral naval exercise. In the past Exercise KAKADU has involved the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and participants from Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Thailand. India also hosted an international fleet review in Bombay in February 2001 involving ships from 20 navies, followed by multilateral PASSEX manoeuvres.
Multilateral forums and conferences
Multilateral naval forums have great potential to promote cooperation between navies. Involvement of naval personnel in other official cooperative security forums promotes naval interaction. Participation of naval personnel in relevant conferences is another form of naval cooperation, for example:
| The Western Pacific Navy Symposium … gathers representatives of the navies of the ASEAN states … for a frank exchange of views on a wide range of issues, including the law of the sea and SLOC [sea line of communication] protection. It is a unique forum and a significant step towards better understanding among regional navies.[2] |
Maritime information exchange
The establishment of a maritime information database is a step towards greater regional cooperation and enhancing maritime security. Such databases include information on shipping, ports, marine environmental issues, regional hydrographic and oceanographic data, piracy and other illegal activities at sea that may pose threats to commercial and other civilian maritime traffic. Many authorities already collect much of this information on a national basis, yet there are many benefits to establishing a freeaccess, open-source regional database. It acts as both an information source and a means for enhancing information exchange and confidence building. A current initiative, sponsored by the RAN and developed by Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation, is the Strategic Maritime Information System. This software application can store information which is easily accessible in user-friendly formats, including maps and charts. The software is designed to provide information on: territories and maritime boundaries of regional states; ports and maritime transport facilities; trade routes; shipping movements; environmental and meteorological data; and reports both of illegal activities at sea and marine pollution. The program has potential to function as the basis for better maritime information exchange and cooperation to the benefit of all users, including navies.
Another example of naval information exchange is the US Pacific Command’s Asia- Pacific Area Network internet site which provides unclassified information on regional security issues, in addition to its primary task of facilitating communications for the planning and coordination of coalition operations:
| The upsurge of piracy in the [Asia-Pacific] region is driving regional countries to cooperate. The anti-piracy mission has started to climb up the list of priorities for the region’s armed forces. Several states have entered into bilateral and multilateral agreements to exchange intelligence information, and allow joint anti-piracy patrols along with (though not within) their common maritime frontiers.[3] |
Bilateral or multilateral maritime exercises provide naval forces the opportunity to cooperate, work together and train across a different range of naval disciplines. These exercises promote: a sharing of strategy and information; opportunities to learn from other navies; discussion between navies; learning another’s point of view, culture and ideas; and allows us to extract experience that would otherwise not be available to us in a unilateral environment.
Bilateral maritime agreements are beneficial between countries that have a large amount of interaction with each other or close operations. These countries normally seek negotiation of additional bilateral agreements. These build upon already established multilateral agreements and will generally be in place between navies that have a large amount of interaction. For example a Sino-Soviet bilateral agreement might be beneficial given that Soviet and Chinese vessels have been involved in several near-collisions and have exchanged warning shots. An example of a bilateral agreement is the relationship between Australia and Singapore. This bilateral relationship has developed into a stronger and deeper (informal) strategic partnership, one that is strengthened through bilateral naval exercises such as Exercise SINGAROO. In August 2008 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong met to sign a memorandum of understanding to strengthen bilateral defence ties. A joint statement by the Prime Ministers stated that the pact aims to enhance the defence relationship between the two countries through ‘expanding cooperation and sharing resources to develop military expertise’.[4] The Singapore Defence Ministry specified that ‘both countries will cooperate through exercises and operations, in areas such as humanitarian and disaster relief, search and rescue and peace support’.[5] This bilateral pact promotes cooperation in defence technology research and calls for annual meetings between the two Defence ministries.
In order to develop a common doctrine and operational procedures in the maritime environment we require greater cooperation on the water, as well as improvement of communications interoperability. Operational cooperation requires navies to share significant levels of equipment standardisation and common standard operating procedures:
| Multilateral security cooperation is an integral aspect of the evolving regional security architecture … cooperation among regional defences forces – involving reciprocal visits of senior officers, joint exercises and joint training programs – has burgeoned. Concepts and mechanisms for conflict prevention and arms control are now receiving more serious official consideration, with a view towards institutionalizing arrangements for preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution within the next five to ten years. There is also considerable interest in the institutionalization of mechanism to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.[6] |
Cooperative multilateral defence activities have a positive affect on the cooperation between different navies in the maritime environment, this in turn is improving regional maritime security. The improvement of security lessens tensions between countries.
Multilateral naval agreements can make provisions for ‘regulating dangerous manoeuvres, restricting harassment and establishing better means of communication at sea … establishing a uniform system of communications for military vessels’.[7] A multilateral approach towards incidents at sea will reduce the number of naval incidents:
| A multilateral agreement incorporating restrictions on dangerous manoeuvres and harassment would probably give such regulations the same status as the rules of the road. The overall effect would be to build confidence on high seas.[8] |
It will also lessen disputes between ships and nations. The recent multilateral exercise held by the Pakistan Navy, Exercise AMAN 09 (Translated as Exercise PEACE) was a great success. It involved naval participation from 31 countries and was:
| Designed to improve maritime security in the region, strengthen international partnerships and highlight the importance of maritime cooperation … This exercise provides US and international forces the opportunity to work together and train across the spectrum of naval disciplines … Aman 2009 will improve the interoperability and tactical proficiency between coalition nations and enhance our navies’ effectiveness in supporting maritime security objectives.[9] |
The benefits of multilateral or bilateral naval exercises is that they assist partner nations to plan and execute command, control, and communications systems in support of future combined humanitarian, peacekeeping and disaster relief operations. The training gained from such exercises will also allow participating nations to continue developing partnerships in the region and further enhance joint military capabilities. Joint bilateral or multilateral exercise will improve the assembled nations’ ability to work collaboratively towards solving a shared regional crisis. In the long term such collaborations will increase world stability.
Conclusion
| Extension of existing confidence-building measures to seas and oceans, especially to areas with the busiest sea-lanes; notification of major naval activities; the invitation of observers to naval exercises or manoeuvres; limitations on the number or scale of naval exercises in specific regions; exchange of information on naval matters; a better flow of objective information on naval capabilities; greater openness and transparency on naval matters in general; strict observance of existing maritime measures which can or are designed to build confidence; rules guiding naval activities when in conflict with civilian activities, in accordance with the current law of the sea; and steps to ensure respect for existing international law with regard to the rights of vessels belonging to the states neutral to a conflict … The experience gained from bilateral agreement on the prevention of incidents at sea belong territorial sea is encouraging.[10] |
Australia plays an active role in promoting further multilateral cooperation by improving existing relationships, expanding its training and education assistance to regional navies, and developing a regional maritime information database. There are many benefits to bilateralism and multilateralism, there is no doubt that they help towards decreasing international tension between states. The greater openness, transparency, confidence and agreements gained through bilateralism and multilateralism helps nations develop a culture of understanding, respect, trust and cooperation. This is the basis for which a good international relationship is formed and it prevents conflict between nations.
References
- ↑ Lisa Martin and Beth Simmons, International Institutions: An International Organisation Reader, The MIT Press, Massachusetts, 2001, p. 45.
- ↑ Hung-mao Tien and Tun-jen Cheng, The Security Environment in the Asia-Pacific, M E Sharpe Inc, New York, 2000, p. 134.
- ↑ Ji Guoxing, Asian Pacific SLOC Security: The China Factor, Working Paper No. 10, Sea Power Centre - Australia, Canberra, 2002, p. 17.
- ↑ Daniel Garrun, ‘Singapore and Australian Sign Bilateral Defence Agreement’, Naval Technology, www.naval-technology.com/news/news40595.html (15 March 2010).
- ↑ Garrun, ‘Singapore and Australia Sign Bilateral Defence Agreement’, (15 March 2010).
- ↑ Tien et al., The Security Environment in the Asia-Pacific, p. 130.
- ↑ Richard Fieldhouse, Security at Sea: Naval Forces and Arms Control, Oxford University Press, New York, 1990, p. 213.
- ↑ Fieldhouse, Security at Sea, p. 213.
- ↑ Riaz Hag, ‘Pakistan Navy Exercise: Aman 2009’, www.riazhaq.com/2009/03/pakistan-naval-exercises-aman-2009.html (7 October 2009).
- ↑ B Kwiatkowska, International Organization and the Law of the Sea: Documentary Yearbook 1990, Graham & Trotman, London, 1990, p. 135.
