This book examines the emerging maritime security scene in Southeast Asia, considering the highly topical implications for the region of possible strategic competition between rising naval powers China and India with a possible naval "arms race" emerging both with naval force development and operations.

Sam Bateman retired from the Royal Australian Navy as a Commodore and is now a Professorial Research Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia; and a Senior Fellow and Adviser to the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Joshua Ho is a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore and Coordinator of its Maritime Security Programme. He is a serving Naval Officer with 22 years of service and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is co-editor of Best of Times, Worst of Times: Maritime Security in the Asia-Pacific; The Evolving Maritime Balance of Power in the Asia-Pacific: Maritime Doctrines and Nuclear Weapons at Sea and Globalisation and Defence in the Asia-Pacific.

Part 1: Regional Strategic Environment: Contemporary Regional Relations 1. Between Rising Powers - A Broad Strategic Overview 2. China's Relations with Southeast Asia 3. US Engagement with China, India and Southeast Asia 4. Japanese Engagement with China, India and Southeast Asia 5. Singapore's Strategic Involvement in the Indian Ocean 6. Chinese Perspective 7. The Korean Perspective 8. The Malaysian Perspective Part 2: Contemporary Regional Maritime Security 9. Regional Maritime Security - Threats and Risk Assessments 10. Cooperative Mechanisms for Safety and Security in the Malacca and Singapore Straits 11. Shaping Naval Power - Implications of the Naval Buildup in Asia 12. Chinese Naval Developments 13. Indian Perspective 14. US Perspective 15. Japanese Perspective 16. Australian Perspective 17. Scope for Maritime Cooperation and Confidence Building 18. Towards a Cooperative Maritime Regime in Southeast Asian Seas - Contemporary Issues, including in the South China Sea 19. Cooperation and Confidence Building: A Southeast Asian Perspective