 The Indian Ocean Naval Conflict Database (IONCD) is a project initiated by the Nixon Center's Regional Strategic Programs as part of a larger effort to study the increasing influence of major Asian powers the Middle East. In the past ten years, Asia has been increasing its economic and diplomatic ties with the Middle East, in large part to satiate its growing demand for fossil fuels. Although there is investment in ambitious new infrastructure projects to link China to the Middle East by land, the primary pathways for Asian-Mid East commerce will remain seaborne for the foreseeable future. Thus, the maritime security of the Indian Ocean will become an increasingly important issue in 21st Century geopolitics, requiring a thorough understanding of the region's maritime rivalries. IONCD was created to fulfill this need. The Database covers interstate naval conflict occurring within the Indian Ocean from 1939 to 2007. It is divided into five eras: World War II (1939-1945), the Early Cold War (1946-1979), the Tanker War (1980-1989), the Era of American Unipolarity (1990-2001), and the 21st Century. Each page includes a spreadsheet, a corresponding Word file presenting a narrative account each of the conflicts, and an interactive map. Conflicts are represented by clickable "thumbtacks" which give the reader information on their origin and outcome. There is also a page outlining the methodology used in preparing the database, as well as a published article detailing our findings. Although the IONCD's format is based off of the Correlates of War (http://www.correlatesofwar.org ), its specificity of focus coupled with its emphasis on interactivity qualify it as a truly unique project. While databases such as the Correlates of War can provide analysts with an understanding of the broader causes of interstate war, they are unsuited to examine specific instances tied to a particular region or type of military conflict. It is because of this that we uncovered numerous instances of naval conflict that the COW had missed. At the time of this writing (October 2009), there is no other publicly accessible database that specializes in maritime conflicts Indian Ocean for such a broad time span. This website is also intended to serve as a companion piece to the forthcoming article, From Backwater to Strategic Crossroads: The Statistics and Importance of Inter-State Naval Conflict in the Indian Ocean (1939-2007), which will be published by the Nixon Center in October 2009. An advanced draft of this article can be found at the bottom of the Tables, Charts, and Documents section of this webpage. Instructions: Conflicts in the IONCD can be viewed in one of three ways. First, there is an interactive Google Map which displays the approximate geographical location of each conflict. By clicking on a red "thumbtack", a bubble will expand telling the reader about the conflict's date, participants, geographical location, entry number in the database, and offer a short news article describing the conflict's events. All of this information is also backed up in more traditional formats. At the bottom of each section, there is a spreadsheet outlining each conflict, as well as a link which allows the reader to download a Word file with each of the conflict narratives. Each of the narratives in both the downloadable file and in the GoogleMap is backed up with bibliographical information about its source. At the bottom of the "Tables, Charts, and Statistics" section, there is also a Master Spreadsheet which contains entries for all the eras combined into one document. All of the conflicts in the map, database, and Word file are also crossed-referenced by a dispute number which is categorized by era. They are divided as such:
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*Cover Image Description: BAY OF BENGAL (Sept. 5, 2007) - INS Viraat steams in formation in the Bay of Bengal during exercise Malabar 07-2 Sept. 5. The multinational exercise includes naval forces from India, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and the United States. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stephen W. Rowe. (http://www.c7f.navy.mil/)
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1615 L Street, Suite 1250 Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-887-1000 Fax: 202-887-5222 Webmaster: Regional.Strategic.Programs@gmail.com Justin De Rise created this database and webpage during his time as a research assistant at the Nixon Center. He is currently a graduate student focusing on security studies in the Middle East and Central Asia. He has previously written about Iran's emerging relations with China, India and Russia, and is writing a thesis analyzing US-Indian and US-Pakistani relations from the standpoint of democratic peace theory. Geoffrey Kemp directs The Nixon Center’s Regional Strategic Program, which focuses primarily on geo-political and geo-economic developments in the Greater Middle East. The current research involves two projects of great importance to U.S. interests: the future of U.S.-Iranian relations and how the growth of India and China and their increasing engagement in the Middle East influences U.S. policy. In addition to convening working groups of regional and subject-matter experts, the program has also produced a number of studies. Most recently, the program has published an essay on India and China in the Middle East and a study of the relationship between Iraq and Iran. All pages, documents, map data, and content on this website is Copyrighted © 2009 by the Nixon Center. No section may be reprinted in whole or in part without express permission from the author. |
