Militarization of Artificial Islands: A Threat to Indo-Pacific Peace and Security

Abstract

  The Indo-Pacific is fast emerging as a theatre of intense power rivalry, fuelled by escalating military activity in the South China Sea by both the United States and China. This study examines the implications for regional security, highlighting the erosion of legal norms, deepening great-power competition, the rise of small-group security alliances, and rapid weapons-driven modernization at sea and in cyberspace. China’s extensive militarization of artificial islands, for instance, challenges the foundations of international law and adds new friction to an already tense region. In response, the United States and its partners are expanding patrols, joint exercises, and arms transfers, creating a complex counterbalance of military measures. Advanced technologies, including drones and space-based surveillance, further heighten the risk that routine monitoring could be misread as hostile action. This analysis also explores the broader consequences for energy security, economic autonomy, and the free flow of goods across the ocean. In this volatile landscape, regional and extra-regional actors must recalibrate defence strategies, blending cooperation with caution in a multipolar world. The future stability of the Indo-Pacific hinges on the choices, action, or inaction, of both local states and external powers.