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

Visit amti.csis.org

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

Gregory B. Poling

Gregory B. Poling

Senior Fellow and Director, Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
Harrison Prétat

Harrison Prétat

Associate Director and Associate Fellow, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

All content by Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

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Southeast Asia Radio

Welcome to Pacific Airwaves! – Secretary Blinken goes to Papua New Guinea

In the inaugural episode of Pacific Airwaves, Karen and Jared discuss President Biden’s cancelled trip to Papua New Guinea, the renewal of Compacts of Free Association agreements with Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia, and new U.S. Embassies in the Pacific Islands. 

Podcast Episode by Karen Lee — May 25, 2023

CSIS Southeast Asia Radio

Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security Challenges: An Evolving Tapestry

This article is part of Evolving Threats to Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security, a series of analyses produced by experts convened by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Located at the crossroads of the Indo-Pacific, the Southeast Asian region incorporates some of the world’s most essential straits and sea lines of communication. The region also […]

Commentary — March 28, 2023

Terrorism as an Evolving Threat to Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security

This article is part of Evolving Threats to Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security, a series of analyses produced by experts convened by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. How has the maritime terrorism threat evolved over the last 20 years? Twenty years ago, terrorist organizations such as Jemaah Islamiya (JI), the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), […]

Commentary — March 28, 2023

Flooding the Zone: China Coast Guard Patrols in 2022

China’s coast guard presence in the South China Sea is more robust than ever before, with Automatic Identification System data showing that it maintained near-daily patrols across key features in 2022.

Commentary — January 30, 2023

Ocean Security Forum 2023

This year’s forum will focus on the theme of 'Natural Security' and the role that support for resilience, sustainability, and capacity building plays in fostering and building key US partnerships.

Event by Whitley Saumweber , Rod Schoonover , Dr. Kelly Kryc , Dr. Maxine Burkett , and Rear Admiral Jo-Ann F. Burdian — January 18, 2023

Navigation Hazards As an Evolving Threat to Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security

This article is part of Evolving Threats to Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security, a series of analyses produced by experts convened by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. How has the navigation hazard threat evolved over the last 20 years? The Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) and the South China Sea are vital water […]

Commentary — December 15, 2022

Maritime Refugees as an Evolving Threat to Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security

This article is part of Evolving Threats to Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security, a series of analyses produced by experts convened by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. How has the threat evolved over the last 20 years? Migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, traveling by sea, are neither a new nor insignificant phenomenon. Among […]

Commentary — December 15, 2022

Vietnam’s Major Spratly Expansion

Vietnam has accelerated and expanded dredging and landfill work at several of its outposts in the Spratly Islands in the second half of 2022, creating roughly 420 acres of new land this year.

Commentary — December 14, 2022