This book analyses the emergence of the Indian Ocean as security complex and a strategic space of central importance and also looks at its prospective future. As well as US-China rivalry, the India-China rivalry is now the defining factor in the Indian Ocean irrespective of the strategic asymmetry. This new situation has opened a space for middle-powers, old and new, to intervene. The authors argue that this situation may turn into an additional source of instability and that the creation of an inclusive and comprehensive regional security architecture, as well as the strengthening of regional multilateralism, should be the priority of all stakeholders in the coming decade.

Frederic Grare is Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFR) and a non-resident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Jean-Loup Samaan is Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore and Associate Researcher with the French Institute of International Relations. 

1. The advent of Chinas Indian Ocean strategy.- 2. Between East and West, Indias revived engagements.- 3. The US, the reluctant offshore balancer of the Indian Ocean rivalries.- 4. The United Kingdom and France: a European struggle for regional influence.- 5. The Gulf Arab Monarchies: from gateways to strategic players in the Indian Ocean?.- 6. Australia and the ASEAN member states: from interest to commitment?.- 7. Indian Ocean Africa, from mere stakeholder to future power broker?.- 8. Reinforcing an Indian Ocean security architecture.