THE SINGAPORE STRAIT : TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF STRAIT'S RESOURCES

Abstract

The sea has traditionally been used as a link between the different continents of the world. Nations looked to the sea as opportunities and resources to augment their own possessions within their own territories. Ships became the means of conveyance for goods and people across the vast expanse of sea. But due to the extent of geography, some of these shipping routes have to converge on "bottle-necks" or strategic straits. These straits thus became important thoroughfares for these maritime nations. A strategic strait is also important to the coastal communities that are not involved in the extra-regional enterprises of maritime states. The strait provided benefits in the form of protein and recreation. The livelihood of these coastal populations may entirely depend on the waterbody. Thus these strategic straits are If, shared space with multi-faceted utilization for different users. The Singapore Strait is an example of such a strategic strait. It is the shortest route between the Middle East and Japan. Historically, the indigenous political units derived their legitimacy from effective control over the strategic strait. It became the focal point of their kingdoms. The arrival of the Europeans in the sixteenth century heralded a different kind of political partitioning, that is, using the sea as a territorial boundary. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824 partitioned the Singapore Strait into two separate political entities. In the post-colonial period, Singapore became the third littoral state. Each state had utilized the Strait for different purposes. But one form of utilization may create both negative as well as positive "externalities" or spin-offs to other forms of uses. There is thus a potential for conflict of interest among the states that may jeopardize future utilization of the Strait. The littoral states therefore need to coordinate their uses and resource management of the Strait. This Academic Exercise aims to examine the different transboundary cooperation in the management of the Strait's resources. It will begin by identifying the various resources of the Strait and their users. They range from international to subnational users. It will discuss the existing transboundary problems and the cooperation of the littoral states in their efforts to deal with them. The potential for greater transboundary cooperation will be examined in the light of increasing economic cooperation among the littoral states under the concept of the Growth Triangle. The probable transboundary responses under various issues will also be explored in order to assess the probability of closer transboundary cooperation in the management of the Strait's resources.