ABSTRACT

Regional cooperation among the littoral states of the Indian Ocean is in the interests of those states, whose economies are critically dependent on its waters and sea-lanes. The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is currently the major organisation that seeks to promote cooperation within the region, including economic, political and security dimensions. This article examines regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region within the framework of the IORA, exploring the association’s historical development and cooperation model (structure and institutions) to deduce whether cooperation is driven by geography (location), or by ideology (non-location). The article further explores whether the IORA’s cooperative framework offers lessons that can be replicated in other regional cooperation contexts. The article argues that while geographical proximity stimulates regional cooperation, ‘shared’ ideology evidently plays a more central role in encouraging nations in far distant places to form an association for various economic, political, and social functions.

摘要

印度洋沿岸国家之间的区域合作符合这些国家的利益，这些国家的经济严重依赖于其水域和海道。印度洋沿岸协会（IORA）目前是主要组织，旨在促进该区域内的合作，包括经济，政治和安全方面的合作。本文在IORA框架内考察了印度洋地区的区域合作，探讨了该协会的历史发展与合作模式（结构和机构），以推论合作是由地理位置（意识形态）还是由意识形态（非地理位置）驱动。本文进一步探讨了IORA的合作框架是否提供了可以在其他区域合作环境中复制的经验教训。