Geostrategic competition for military basing in the Indian Ocean region

Executive summary

Military basing and access across the Indian Ocean region (IOR) is an important – and asymmetric – object of strategic competition in the contemporary international security environment. The region’s maritime geography and the major powers’ varied security interests in the theater are shaping the force postures and strategic interactions of America, China, India, Australia, France, and Britain as they pursue regional military basing and access objectives. China, in particular, is seeking to establish a greater military presence and a more robust operational foothold in the IOR, heightening the United States’ strategic interest in the region. America’s changing global force posture and the high-end challenges it faces in the western Pacific and Europe make the legacy U.S. basing network in the region ill-suited to meet growing international security demands. Given that the United States shares certain threat perceptions and objectives with key regional maritime democracies and other like-minded partners, Washington should develop deeper security and economic partnerships as it rebalances its IOR posture to meet the asymmetric challenge posed by the PRC.