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A Magazine Whose Time Has Come
Written by Sir James Mancham, Founding President, Seychelles
Friday, July 9, 2010
Mahe, Seychelles - The office of Mahé Publications Ltd at Glacis-sur-Mer, Mahé, Seychelles announces the launch of a new magazine in August 2010 entitled, “Voice of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.” This magazine will incorporate the “Seychelles Review,” a monthly magazine which started in 1993.
The following statement issued by the Publisher, Sir James R. Mancham, KBE, founding President of the Republic of Seychelles, explains the raison d’être for this new magazine:
“The Indian Ocean has gradually emerged as a pivotal region in the economic and geopolitical configurations of the superpowers. The geostrategic significance of the region and its increasing relevance to the competitive globalism of the superpowers are primarily the result of the central dynamics of contemporary power politics, which in a multi-polar context have introduced a complex pattern of conflict and competition on economic, political and strategic issues. It is not only the modern military technology that has transformed the world into a single strategic theater, or has integrated all the important areas of the world into the central defence planning of the superpowers, but also the regional geopolitical characteristics, balance of power arrangements and perceptions of vital interests have largely determined the nature of extra-regional participation in the various strategic subsystems of the world.
The naval presence of the superpowers in the Indian Ocean has generally been explained by reference to their diplomatic and military rivalries in the grey areas of the third world. The assumptions of a ‘power vacuum’ and ‘reciprocal escalation’ have largely influenced the traditional conceptualization of superpowers’ policies in the Indian Ocean region. Although an element of competitive globalism has played a part in the strategic thinking of the superpowers, their respective policies, including naval deployments, have been largely responses to a greater mix of their domestic bureaucratic policies, regional events and primacy of national interests.
Today the big powers are certainly engaged in an intriguing political chess game in the area. The Americans who replaced the British when they took the decision to pull out of East Suez, have built what is regarded as one of their most important naval airbases on the Island of Diego Garcia. Initially, India and the Soviet Union were in the same camp of protesters concerning the American decision to replace the British in the zone. These two Nations vociferously adopted the policy of Indian Ocean Zone of Peace – but the Soviet Union is no more and India is in “bed” with the United States where defence matters are concerned and are jointly watching the game China is playing as she increases her economic and political influence in Africa and the zone.
Within the framework of this greater picture, there is today the menace of Somali pirates to international shipping; the sad political division in Madagascar as the big Island discovers more and more mineral wealth; there is the waking-up of Australia with respect to her Indian Ocean potential; there is the increasing importance of the import and export trade of African Nations through Indian Ocean ports; there is the tuna and fishing industry and the growing tourism developments with many 5-star+ hotels and resorts in operation – and indeed there is the penetrating economic influence of the rich Arab Gulf Nations as they invest more and more in the south. There is no doubt that the magazine “Voice of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea” is a magazine whose time has come.”
The magazine will be under the Editorship of Mr. Roland Hoarau, who was Editor of “Seychelles Review,” and will be assisted by two Assistant Editors, Mr. Derek Pothin and Mr. Alexander Mancham, BIR. Initially it will be a bi-monthly magazine (every two months) with distribution in Seychelles, Mauritius, and the Gulf Nations, South Africa, East Africa and through the London-based Worldwide Magazine Distribution.
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