Australian Maritime Issues 2007 - Royal Australian Navy

238 AUSTRALIAN MARITIME ISSUES 2007: SPC-A ANNUAL
Those willing to get on board with similar initiatives can expect support from US
Combatant Commanders in the form of targeted capacity building, military financing, the
infusion of security assistance funding, and other types of security cooperation activities
seen as essential to the execution of US strategy in combating terrorism. Combined with
diplomatic support and initiatives, these measures, at a relatively low cost to the US,
can provide a heady and worthwhile mixture for smaller states. Singapore and the US
signed a Strategic Framework Agreement in July 2005 recognising Singapore as a major
security cooperation partner. This agreement, and the supporting Defense Cooperation
Agreement, solidifies strategic access to Singapore for visiting US forces. The Republic
of Singapore Navy is unlikely to regret allowing the US Navy onto its dance card, yet
such initiatives emphasise the delicate balancing act the US is required to conduct in
its strategic relationships as to whether eyes are cast from Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Big Picture
The involvement of the world’s navies is only a small part of the solution for the ‘1000-
Ship Navy’ concept. Christopher Cavas has described the difficulties of intercepting
an imaginary shipping container containing biological hazards destined for the hands
of terrorists, and concludes: ‘Stopping this threat and other forms of weapons of mass
destruction from making their way across the world’s oceans is a challenge for the
US Navy.’ 14 In fact it is not a challenge for the navy but for national and international
law enforcement agencies and for the US Government. The State Department sees
controlling and managing such a threat as a part of ‘transformational diplomacy’. If
someone is to fulfill a ‘globo-cop’ role to secure the maritime domain before ships enter
the Department of Homeland Security’s area of interest, pragmatically it will be the
State Department, not the US Navy. Transformational diplomacy sees partnerships, both
established and yet to be realised, as the key to protecting the global maritime supply
chain against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The State Department is
right to see cooperation between the public and private sectors as critical.
The Secure Freight Initiative is a demonstration of a multi-lateral partnership in
that both foreign governments and privately-owned maritime terminal operators
have teamed together with us to improve our ability to scan US bound cargo
with radiation detection equipment and non-intrusive imaging equipment for
nuclear and other radiological materials. 15
The US has created a global initiative with partners as diverse as Kazakhstan and
Morocco to work with the private sector to enhance the implementation of the Global
Initiative Principles espoused by Secretary of State Condileeza Rice. These principles
include best security practices for private firms; developing new technology; such as
in enterprise risk management and biometric identity verification tools; and inevitably,
strengthening information sharing.
There are, of course, not only national but bilateral and multilateral partnerships to
be more fully exploited in developing maritime domain awareness essential to the