Africa and the Indian Ocean Region

This book examines the presence of Africa as a significant force in the western Indian Ocean. Africa will increasingly play a pivotal role in the future of the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean region. The book considers the scope for greater African involvement in Indian Ocean region-building activities, and seeks to encourage a western Indian Ocean dialogue. The book publishes some of the best papers presented at an Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG Inc.) symposium held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013, entitled "The Political Economy of Maritime Africa in the Indian Ocean Region." This symposium was part of a larger project on constructing a sense of "Indian Oceanness". Chapters include: India?s new policy of engagement with Africa; China?s growing presence in the Indian Ocean Region; security strategies in the Western Indian Ocean; the increasing importance and significance of the Western Indian Ocean littoral; and cultural linkages between Africa and the Indian Ocean region. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region.

Introduction: Africa and the Indian Ocean Region 1. Infrastructure and influence: China’s presence on the coast of East Africa 2. Indian Ocean region: The evolving context and rising significance of the African littoral 3. Zones and routes: Securing a western Indian Ocean 4. India, Africa and the Indian Ocean 5. Impacts of forest-related large-scale land acquisitions in the Indian Ocean world 6. Lewis Nkosi’s Durban: An Indian Ocean city in flux

Timothy Doyle is Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Adelaide in Australia. He is also Emeritus Chair of Politics and International Relations at Keele University in the United Kingdom and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Australia-Asia-Pacific Institute (AAPI), Curtin University, Western Australia.

Dennis Rumley is Professor of Indian Ocean Studies at Curtin University, Western Australia, and Inaugural Professor of Indian Ocean Studies at the University of Western Australia. He is currently the Chair of the Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG Inc.) and was the Chief Editor of its flagship journal, the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, for three years.