Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines security cooperation in the Celebes Sea

Abstract

In this thesis, I explore the challenges to and reasons for the current limited trilateral security cooperation among Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines in the Celebes Sea. This study analyzes historical and current events among these countries and relations between them and extraregional powers. In particular, it examines their unilateral and bilateral policies, their domestic political constraints, and the status of their respective militaries and domestic law enforcement institutions. These nations have been successful in establishing trinational agreements among each other to enhance security cooperation in the Celebes Sea, however these have lacked sufficient scope and depth to address the current terrorist and piracy threats in the Celebes Sea region. I find that this lack of security cooperation is mainly due to these nations' historical mistrust of each other's national interests, domestic political challenges and limited force projection and interagency capabilities. In this thesis I make recommendations for U.S. policy and theater engagement planning in these nations.