Description
The nature of contemporary security threats has led governments to reorganize their security sectors through a ‘whole-of-government’ approach, establishing structures to enhance collaboration. Maritime security exemplifies this trend of reorganizing governance, because of its distinct challenges and the explicit requirement that various stakeholders are involved. It has therefore gained significant attention as a fertile ground for innovative practice. Despite the growing importance of these structures, however, they remain under-studied as distinct actors. This lack of attention is surprising given the implications of privileging certain actors within these frameworks, and the distinctly new spaces of civil-military relations they imply.
This paper analyses the implications of the ‘whole-of-government’ approach on the provision of maritime security in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on how this organises civil-military relations. It highlights how regional militaries have effectively captured the provision of ‘whole-of-government’ responses in practice - limiting the role of civilian agencies and creating barriers to innovation. By making this argument, the paper not only contributes to a more in-depth analysis of the actors involved in maritime security provision, but also questions the limitation of claims that evolving security practices are sufficiently innovative to address the divergent governance challenges the maritime domain implies.
