From the time of the telegraph to the age of fiber optics, networks of cables submerged deep beneath the ocean have enabled the communication and connectivity upon which societies are built. Today, these undersea cables transmit over 95
percent of global Internet traffic, and they have attracted increasing attention from policymakers due to growing demand for bandwidth and high-profile episodes of cable disruptions. Drawing on a recent multi-year project, this presentation explores how the construction of cable networks has been shaped by rising powers seeking to influence communications infrastructure for strategic purposes, from the British empire to the Japanese empire to the present. It also examines contemporary concerns using examples from Japan and across the Indo-Pacific region. Over the decades, the fundamental risks to undersea cables have not changed dramatically, but the understanding of these risks has evolved due to securitization of the maritime and economic domains. Most recently, this trend has been driven by intensifying US-China rivalry, which has put the Indo-Pacific at the heart of emerging debates. Although the new discourse of cable securitization is not universally accepted, it is already reshaping the physical layout of regional networks, yet questions remain about how to most effectively bolster resilience. By taking an interdisciplinary approach to undersea cables, this presentation sheds light on the importance of this infrastructure, as well as the way that it reflects and influences broader dynamics in Japan, the Indo-Pacific, and beyond.
Kristi Govella is Associate Professor of Japanese Politics and International Relations in the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies at the University of Oxford. She specializes in the intersection of economics, security, and governance, with a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific region and Japan. Her research has examined topics such as economic statecraft, government-business relations, regional institutional architecture, military alliances, non-traditional security, and the governance of the maritime, outer space, and cyber domains. She is also Senior Adviser and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Asia Policy. She previously held positions at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Harvard University, and the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.