Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
AMTI aims to promote transparency in the Indo-Pacific to dissuade assertive behavior and conflict and generate opportunities for cooperation and confidence building
The maritime environment in East Asia contains both promise and peril. The Indo-Pacific region is host to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes, facilitates huge volumes of regional trade, and boasts abundant natural resources. Competing territorial claims, incidents between neighboring countries, and increasing militarization, however, raise the possibility that an isolated event at sea could become a geopolitical catastrophe. This is all occurring against a backdrop of relative opaqueness. Geography makes it difficult to monitor events as they occur, and there is no public, reliable authority for information on maritime developments.
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative seeks to change this. AMTI was conceived of and designed by CSIS. It is an interactive, regularly-updated source for information, analysis, and policy exchange on maritime security issues in Asia. AMTI aims to promote transparency in the Indo-Pacific to dissuade assertive behavior and conflict and generate opportunities for cooperation and confidence building. Because AMTI aims to provide an objective platform for exchange, AMTI and CSIS take no position on territorial or maritime claims.
AMTI Leadership


All content by Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
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Flooding the Zone: China Coast Guard Patrols in 2022
Commentary — January 30, 2023
Ocean Security Forum 2023
Event by Whitley Saumweber , Rod Schoonover , Dr. Kelly Kryc , Dr. Maxine Burkett , and Rear Admiral Jo-Ann F. Burdian — January 18, 2023

Vietnam’s Major Spratly Expansion
Commentary — December 14, 2022

The Ebb and Flow of Beijing’s South China Sea Militia
Commentary — November 9, 2022

China Installs A New Hydrocarbon Platform in the East China Sea
Commentary — September 29, 2022

Cracking Down on Illegal Chinese Fishing in North Korean Waters
Blog Post — September 12, 2022

More Island Upgrades Across the South China Sea
Commentary — July 8, 2022

Three Rounds of Coercion in Philippine Waters
Commentary — May 26, 2022

Delhi Continues Strategic Investment in the Indian Ocean
Commentary — May 9, 2022

What Lies Beneath: Chinese Surveys in the South China Sea
Commentary — March 1, 2022
