Summary of JIIA Forum Presentation

December 13, 2011
Venue: Japan Institute of International Affairs

Vice Admiral Mark I. Fox, Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command
Theme: Maritime Security in the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility

The world depends heavily on maritime transport for shipping energy resources, and maritime
security is thus an extremely important topic from this perspective as well.

Petroleum

demand is on the rise worldwide, and much of this demand is satisfied through procurementfrom the Middle East. The expansion of international trade has led to a variety of goods otherthan energy resources also moving between nations, and the volume of such goods
transported by ship is expected to grow.

With logistics management systems now in placethat seek to keep inventory levels as low as possible in the interest of business efficiency, evena temporary disruption in the maritime transport responsible for conveying many goods could
interrupt the flow of goods and adversely affect people’s livelihoods.

The Gulf region of the Middle East for which we are responsible features three transportbottlenecks: the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Bab el Mandeb.

The

volume of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stands head and shoulders above the other, with
about 40% of the world’s petroleum passing through this strait.

There have been many

reports of ships being subjected to terrorist attacks or piracy, with instances of the latterparticularly prevalent in the past few years.

The piracy initially confined primarily to theshores of Somalia has now expanded even to the coasts of India.

Numerous countries andregions on their own or in partnership have been dispatching forces to maintain patrols andensure the safety of maritime transport. Each joint task force has an established role andarea of activity, and the participating countries are performing their duties within their stipulatedscope.

Japan, too, has made conspicuous contributions to the activities in this region, and I would liketo offer my thanks to the people of Japan and the members of its Self Defense Forces.

The

pirate attack on the Adinet in the Gulf of Aden on July 22, 2011 was resolved without problem
and successfully concluded through the assistance of Japan’s SDF.

These are not activities

that can be carried out by individual countries on their own, and the assistance andcooperation of other countries is always needed. Japan has been engaged in a variety ofassistance activities in the Middle East.

Japan’s contributions in the Middle East are

extremely important – e.g., patrols of the Arabian Gulf by Japanese escort ships, refueling ofother countries’ vessels, participation in joint exercises, pursuit of friendly relations withBahrain – and its presence is also essential to the execution of our own mission.

In the Middle East at present, the greatest caution needs to be exercised with respect to Iran.
Iranian mines, submarines, and cruise missiles pose a major threat.

Iran is also pushingahead with the development of increasingly longer-range ballistic missiles.
attention must be paid to Iran’s nuclear development program.

Additionally,Political instability is now on

the rise in the Middle East, and a chain reaction of democratization movements has swept theregion.

The Middle East remains an important area for the rest of the world, and all countries

concerned must continue working in close cooperation to ensure the stability and security ofthis region.