Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0176/01765.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 40KB | 619 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01765}
$Pretitle{354C}
$Title{Indian Ocean Countries
Chapter 1C.   Security as a Regional and National Concern}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Melinda W. Cooke}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{forces
military
national
security
army
french
ocean
government
indian
france}
$Date{1983}
$Log{Figure 23.*0176501.scf
}
Country:     Indian Ocean Countries
Book:        Indian Ocean Countries, An Area Study: Strategic Considerations
Author:      Melinda W. Cooke
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1983

Chapter 1C.   Security as a Regional and National Concern

     Although the aggregate totals of military might and the numbers of men
under arms in the littoral and insular nations were impressive, in 1982 the
diversity of cultures, geographical conditions, levels of economic
development, and forms of government in the area and the proliferation of
local disputes had precluded the formation of a "united front" among area
countries and made any future such organization most unlikely. No smaller,
subregional groupings maintained a significant military capability: the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), for instance, had no military
function, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, formed by several sheikdoms in the
Persian Gulf in 1981 to plan joint action to ward off a communist threat, was
still in its formative stages in 1982. Military cooperation among the regional
nations was usually limited to conducting joint exercises, such as those
between Madagascar and Seychelles in 1979, and to supplying technical
assistance, such as that provided by Tanzania in the development of the armed
forces in Seychelles.

     Only about one-half dozen of the nations in the area possessed the
capability to operate singly on any scale over the ocean itself. These
included Australia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and perhaps
Iran. Of those six, only India and South Africa were generally seen as
potentially capable of affecting the western ocean island nations. In 1982
India was engaged in developing a navy it hoped would be able to assume at
least some of the control held by the external powers over the ocean. Because
India was a regional nation, its forces were regarded positively by Seychelles
and Madagascar. Seychelles has negotiated with India to provide air and sea
surveillance of its Exclusive Economic Zone, and Madagascar has permitted
warships of the Indian navy to dock at its ports. South Africa's military
capability, however, greater than that of any other nation of the African
continent, was looked upon with considerable disfavor and generally viewed as
a threat. Seychelles and Madagascar in particular have made repeated
accusations that South Africa has been involved in attempts to overthrow their
socialist governments.

     In light of sustained major power involvement in the Indian Ocean area
and given the relative poverty and small populations of Madagascar, Mauritius,
Comoros, Seychelles, and Maldives, the five insular nations sought to
guarantee their external security by diplomatic initiatives rather than by
building up substantial defense capabilities. In varying degrees all attempted
to generate worldwide support for national security positions through their
activities in the Nonaligned Movement (see Glossary) and through membership in
international organizations such as the UN and the OAU. In addition all five
supported more or less strenuously the 1971 UN resolution proposing to declare
the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace.

     Each of the five chose to deal with the military forces of the United
States, the Soviet Union, and France somewhat differently, however. Madagascar
permitted only the forces of Indian Ocean area countries to use its military
facilities, while Mauritius permitted the navies of all nations to pay calls
at its port. Comoros maintained a defense agreement with France. Seychelles
established an annual quota on the number of visits foreign warships could
make to its port on Mahe Island, stipulating that no vessel could carry
nuclear weapons. Maldives closed its air base on Gan to all foreign military
forces but allowed any navy to call at its small port at the capital city of
Male.

Disarmament Initiatives

     Multilateral discussions regarding declaring the ocean a Zone of Peace
were ongoing throughout the 1970-82 period. The Soviet Union first put forward
the idea in the mid-1960s in an effort to improve its own position in the area
by reducing Western forces in the ocean. The concept gained international
credence only after 1970, however, when a conference of nonaligned nations in
Lusaka, Zambia, gave overwhelming approval to a recommendation that all
nations consider and respect the ocean as outside the context of great power
rivalry and that the area be free of nuclear weapons.

     In 1971 the UN General Assembly approved a resolution submitted by Sri
Lanka declaring the Indian Ocean to be a Zone of Peace. That resolution called
on the great powers to consult with the littoral states in order to halt the
escalation of great power military presence in the area and to eliminate from
the area all bases, forces, and nuclear weapons "conceived in the context of
great power rivalry." It also called on the littoral and hinterland states,
the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and all major maritime
nations using the ocean to enter into consultations designed at ensuring that
warships and military aircraft would not be used in any way that might harm
the littoral or hinterland states. The Soviet Union, the United States,
Britain, and France abstained on the resolution. An ad hoc committee to study
the implications of the proposal was set up in the UN in December 1972,
Madagascar and Mauritius being represented in the fifteen-member committee.

     Little progress was made in the mid- and late 1970s on preventing a
military buildup in the Indian Ocean. In 1977 under the direction of President
Carter, the United States entered into bilateral discussions with the Soviet
Union regarding limiting naval deployments in the region. These discussions
were broken off by the United States within one year, however, because of the
Soviet Union's growing role in the military conflict in Ethiopia. In 1979 the
Soviet Union, the United States, France, and Britain agreed to participate in
the UN ad hoc committee on the Zone of Peace and to discuss the possibility of
attending a meeting proposed to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1981 to
consult on the issue. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan late in 1979,
however, considerably altered the perceptions of many of the proposed
participants, and the scheduled meeting in Colombo was canceled.

     In 1982 the prospects for the Zone of Peace were complicated by two major
disagreements among the ad hoc committee members. The first concerned the area
to which the Zone of Peace was to be applied. Several nations wished to extend
a nuclear-free zone both over the ocean and over the littoral and hinterland
states. This proposal was opposed by nations such as India, which with its own
nuclear capability wanted the concept to apply only over the waters of the
ocean itself and not to include the littoral or hinterland states. Another
stumbling block was the insistence of the United States, Britain, Australia,
and several of their allies that the Soviet Union must withdraw from
Afghanistan before any meeting might be held to consider the Zone of Peace
proposal and that Soviet forces stationed in Afghanistan and the southern
regions of the Soviet Union must also be taken into account when considering
the state of great power rivalry in the area. As of mid-1982 no decision had
been reached regarding a proposal for all concerned states to meet to discuss
the issue in 1983.

Madagascar

     The origins of Madagascar's contemporary armed forces can be traced to
the royal army of the Merina of the Central Highlands, who used it as the
primary instrument of power as they extended their control thro