Emerging Maritime Threats in Global Geopolitics

The field of international maritime politics is experiencing significant changes due to current geopolitical conflicts, economic disturbances, and infrastructural vulnerabilities. Prominent issues have arisen from the war in Ukraine and escalating tensions in the Middle East, particularly with Houthi forces in the Red Sea. These developments expose new maritime threats that are not yet comprehensively addressed in academic research, which have crucial implications for global trade, security, and governance. Furthermore, the emergence of shadow fleets that navigate sanctions and the increasing threats to maritime supply chains through acts such as the maritime campaign in the Black Sea highlight the complex nature of these challenges.

This Research Topic aims to bring together cutting-edge empirical research that interrogates emerging and evolving maritime threats, focusing on the ramifications of recent geopolitical shifts. It seeks to explore key questions around the efficacy of sanctions, the weaponization of national fleets, state and non-state responses to clandestine shipping networks, and the strategic implications of new forms of blockades and trade disruptions.

To gather further insights into the dynamic interplay of maritime security, economic resilience, and global politics, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Sanction Evasion and the Dynamics of the "Shadow Fleet"
• Comparative Analyses of Modern Maritime Disruptions and Traditional State-imposed Blockades
• Strategic Countermeasures to Mitigate Economic and Security Fallout from Maritime Blockades
• Geopolitical Conflict and Vulnerabilities in Underwater Infrastructure
• The Role of Non-State Actors in Redefining Global Trade Routes

We invite empirical contributions from scholars across disciplines such as international relations, security studies, maritime law, and economics. Submissions may include historical assessments, contemporary case studies, or anticipatory analyses of how different actors navigate these maritime challenges.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: maritime security, geopolitical conflicts, shadow fleet, trade disruptions, sanction evasion, global supply chains

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.