CO-OPERATIVE MARITIME DIPLOMACY: THE RESOLUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES-INDONESIA MARITIME BORDER DISPUTE (1994-2014)

Abstract

Thesis title: Co-operative Maritime Diplomacy: The Resolution of the Philippines-Indonesia Maritime Border Dispute (1994-2014) The maritime interest of the country cannot be discussed without reference to the maritime territories, jurisdiction and boundaries of the country. The Philippines for a number of decades has been opposed with the dilemma whether or not it should redefine its maritime law and jurisdiction in accordance to the UNCLOS. In this thesis, the author analyzed the implementation of the Philippines maritime diplomacy since 1994 when the UNCLOS came to power by examining the case study of the Philippines and Indonesia maritime border dispute in the Exclusive Economic Zone from Celebes to Mindanao sea. The Philippines-Indonesia maritime border dispute is a sovereignty issue, where it is claimed over land territory and signifies the emerge of the state practice whereby in a maritime boundary dispute, a unilateral proclamation of maps will eventually be aligned with prevailing international law, UNCLOS. Using the neoliberalism perspective, the author analyzed the interest of the Philippines to establish cooperation with Indonesia related to the national territory of each country, each legislation, maritime zones, and exercise of sovereignty over disputes maritime territories. Meanwhile, co-operative maritime diplomacy also used to determine the Philippines action in the form of bilateral cooperation, joint exercise on maritime security and regional cooperation to secure the Philippines and Indonesia maritime areas. On behalf of common interest, both countries succeed in maintaining their relations to achieve mutual goals regardless of boundaries, this also plays an intervening role in determining both countries foreign policy towards their maritime border dispute. Thus, both countries conducted a series of negotiations to delimit their EEZs and embody the results of the 20 years of negotiations into an agreement.