The book is written and edited in order to inform the broadest possible audience, especially in Europe, how the security architecture in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean works, who are the major actors, which are the largest challenges, and finally what can be done to empower and develop those remote, small, and developing ocean states on many levels. This book is, therefore, a attempt to fill in a huge gap in both Polish and European literature, as well as analytical sources of the Indo-Pacific security and international relations in that region.

The subtitle of the book is “Commonwealth’s presence in the region” as the role of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland cannot be left unsaid when discussing both historical and present political, legal, economic and defence matters. The engagement of the Government in London, and previously of the British Monarchs have impacted the route of development of states in both the Indian Ocean and Oceania – in the South Pacific. After the period of decolonization, former colonies and dominions remain strongly connected with the United Kingdom, either through the formal bond being the membership in the Commonwealth of Nations or through a web of economic interdependence, not to mention belongingness of the Western culture with its specific set of written norms and customary law.

The book brings together 15 experts, enthusiasts of either the Indian Ocean or the Pacific, who popularize science through the Polish based association – Australia, New Zealand, Oceania Research Association (ANZORA). This book is an outcome of the 13th ANZORA International Conference which took place on the 10th of December 2021 at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland. The authors represent interdisciplinary backgrounds: political science, law, history, anthropology, and security studies. They come from or represent Poland, Norway, Italy, China, Canada, India, Ireland, Portugal, and the United States.