Sea lanes at risk, maritime order under threat: Between collective defence and global power projection: how Germany can retain its capacity to act

Julian Pawlak

No 41/2026, SWP Comments from Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), German Institute for International and Security Affairs

Abstract: In the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, it has become evident how vulnerable sea lanes are and how fragile the global political and economic order is. Today, actors willing and able to use instruments of power can threaten key maritime chokepoints and thereby exert political pressure. Germany, acting in concert with its European partners, should adapt to this reality of power politics. Among other things, it should establish a strategic framework for maritime security policy and cooperate closely with old and new partner states to defend the international order.

Keywords: law of the sea; international maritime law; United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; UNCLOS; Strait of Hormuz; Bab el-Mandeb; Gulf of Aden; Strait of Malacca; chokepoint; transit passage; innocent passage; weaponized interdependence; lawfare; Operation Atalanta; Combined Task Force 151; EUNAVFOR Aspides; piracy; submarine cable; Freedom of Navigation Operation; FONOP; Istanbul Cooperation Initiative; INI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:swpcom:344275

DOI: 10.18449/2026C41

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