Research Fellow in Global Security @latrobe. Honorary Fellow @AIinstitute. PhD from @NSC_ANU. Book forthcoming in 2026: "The British Indian Ocean Territory."
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Diego Garcia was targeted by Iran during the early days of the war, surprising everyone. @samuelbashfield on how the US base became a backdoor to the current war in the Gulf. responsiblestatecraft.org/di…
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Read an excerpt from @SamuelBashfield's 'The British Indian Ocean Territory: A Secret and Strategic Cold War History' here ➡️ tinyurl.com/9ezef6sd
30% off w/code BIOT30
Wonderful to see this considered review of my new @HurstPublishers book 'The British Indian Ocean Territory: A Secret and Strategic Cold War History', out in the US on 15 December 2026 under the @OUPAcademic imprint.
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Wonderful to see this considered review of my new @HurstPublishers book 'The British Indian Ocean Territory: A Secret and Strategic Cold War History', out in the US on 15 December 2026 under the @OUPAcademic imprint.
NEW : in his new book @SamuelBashfield demonstrates how Diego Garcia became central to America’s maritime posture in the Indian Ocean. And at a cost that continues today.
responsiblestatecraft.org/di…
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Sample the book here ➡️ tinyurl.com/9ezef6sd
30% off with code BIOT30
My book, 'The British Indian Ocean Territory: A Secret and Strategic Cold War History,' is out, just as its subject is making headlines.
Trump just called the #Chagos deal "terrible"; London says it can't proceed without US support.
BIOT thus endures.
hurstpublishers.com/book/the…
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My book, 'The British Indian Ocean Territory: A Secret and Strategic Cold War History,' is out, just as its subject is making headlines.
Trump just called the #Chagos deal "terrible"; London says it can't proceed without US support.
BIOT thus endures.
hurstpublishers.com/book/the…
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In London this month I presented the book at @lseideas and met Jeremy Corbyn MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Chagos, to discuss my findings.
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Out now from @HurstPublishers. @OUPAcademic publishes in the US, Canada and Mexico on 15 December.
Press and academic inspection copies via Hurst: hurstpublishers.com/book/the…
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Another example of a trend that we identified back in June, citing @SamuelBashfield’s research in this area.
.@USTDA announced a feasibility study to develop a trusted trans-Pacific #SubmarineCable system that connects #Thailand, through neighboring countries, to the U.S., strengthening secure #digital #connectivity across Southeast Asia. 🇺🇸🇹🇭
Read more: ustda.gov/ustda-supports-tru…
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Submarine cable networks carry approximately 99% of international data traffic and form the physical backbone of the Indo-Pacific’s digital economy. Australian and Indian governments have identified submarine cable resilience as a strategic priority with both countries committed to supporting secure, trusted, reliable and resilient undersea cable connectivity across the Indo-Pacific.
The Institute is pleased to announce we will be hosting the Australia-India Cables Dialogue 2026 in Mumbai. Building on the inaugural Australia-India Cables Dialogue held in Perth in July 2025, this Track 1.5 Dialogue will bring together leading Australian, Indian and regional submarine cable industry, government, investor and research experts to identify practical pathways for cooperation on submarine cable supply chain security.
The Dialogue is hosted by the @AIinstitute, based at the University of Melbourne, @IIITB_official, and the Centre for Global Security, @latrobe. The Dialogue is supported by a multi-year grant from @dfat.
For more information, see here: aii.unimelb.edu.au/australia…
@AusHCIndia @HCICanberra @cgimelbourne @AusCG_Mumbai @SamuelBashfield @Lisa_Singh
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
🇮🇴 Need to understand the furore over the Chagos deal? Learn the complicated Cold War history of this British Overseas Territory and what it means for geopolitics today in @SamuelBashfield's new book.
‘Asks why and how the UK & US collaborated to create and perpetuate BIOT through the Cold War and after. . . a blow-by-blow account of a highly topical issue.’ @PaliwalAvi
Sample & purchase here:
➡️ tinyurl.com/9ezef6sd
30% off w/code BIOT30
ALT Book cover of 'The British Indian Ocean Territory' showing an aerial view of the region covered in clouds.
The UK has stalled plans to cede control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius amid opposition from US President Donald Trump. bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
🇮🇴 NOW AVAILABLE: The British Indian Ocean Territory: A Secret and Strategic Cold War History by @SamuelBashfield
‘Asks why and how the UK & US collaborated to create and perpetuate BIOT through the Cold War and after. . . From underscoring the limits of British power to American views of the Indian Ocean during the Cold War, this is a blow-by-blow account of a highly topical issue.’ @PaliwalAvi
Pick up your advance copy at 30% off with code BIOT30
➡️ tinyurl.com/9ezef6sd
ALT Book cover of The British Indian Ocean Territory by Samuel Bashfield showing an outline of an island surrounding by sea and clouds.
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Aii Fellows Dr @SamuelBashfield, Grace Corcoran and Professor Balaji Parthasarathy, and Professor at @IIITB_official Dr V. Sridhar write on ‘Rewiring the Indian Ocean: Why the World’s Data is Taking New Paths’ for The Pacific Islands Forum.
Drawing on their new research piece ‘Rewiring the Indian Ocean: The Dynamic Geography of Submarine Cable Networks', they unpack a new set of considerations driving submarine cable development in the Indian Ocean, and what policymakers need to consider as the undersea digital network continues to grow.
This research forms part of the Institute's 'Securing the Internet’s Backbone: Developing an Australia-India Framework for Strengthening Submarine Cable Connectivity, Resilience and Supply Chains' project, under our Seabed Program.
Read the article here: pacforum.org/publications/th…
Read the research: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
@dfat @MEAIndia @AusHCIndia @HCICanberra
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Timely @NSC_ANU 99% of 🇦🇺 digital connectivity. The cloud is a misnomer, its the oceans that are vulnerable. 124 yrs since first attack on sub cables (Chile/Bolivia). 🇦🇺 Valuable insights/recommendations & a sober call to align national efforts.@OxfordCCW @SamuelBashfield @Rory_Medcalf @DavidBrewster6 #jocelinnkank #mikeconstable #anthonybergin
🚨🇦🇺 Two of Australia's subsea internet cables, Indigo West and Indigo Central, were damaged last weekend inside the Submarine Cable Protection Zone off Perth. Authorities cited "very suspicious activity from a vessel near the location."
Windward's multi-sensor analysis surfaced one vessel whose movements align with the location and timing of the damage. Here is what each sensor saw:
AIS behavior first: The vessel entered Australia's EEZ on July 28, anchored off Perth, and loitered for nearly two weeks. On July 31 her reported ETA changed to January 1, 2027, a placeholder value typical of vessels with no genuine port call intent. Through August 8–9, the window in which the cables were damaged, her track shows repeated erratic crossings over the cable corridor.
Then the satellites: Windward EO satellite imagery captured her on August 3 at 02:12 UTC, roughly 11 km west of Perth, off Marmion Marine Park. On August 8 at 21:42 UTC, SAR imagery placed her directly on the cable route.
Any one of these signals can be argued with. An AIS track can be dismissed as noise. An EO frame proves presence, not behavior. A SAR return is a bright smudge on a purple field. Stack them and the ambiguity collapses: three independent sensors, one vessel, on the cables, at the time of the cuts.
Fewer than 20 cables carry roughly 99% of Australia's internet traffic. Protecting them starts with knowing which vessel was there, and being able to prove it three different ways.
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When it rains, it pours. Both of these arrived this week - a Cambridge Element and an ANU NSC Occasional Paper, outputs of my Defence grant on seabed critical infra.
Launches next week:
Melbourne: 10 Aug🔗 aiiavic.glueup.com/event/is-…
Canberra: 11 Aug🔗 nsc.anu.edu.au/event/launch-…
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
Join Aii Distinguished Fellow Dr @DavidBrewster6 and Research Fellow Dr @SamuelBashfield for @AIIANational Victoria's ‘Is the Seabed a ‘Battlefield’? Australia’s Submarine Cable Challenge’, co-hosted with the Institute and @latrobe's Centre for Global Security.
Drawing on 'Connected & Protected: Building Australia's Submarine Cable Resilience', the most comprehensive assessment of Australia's submarine cable network to date, and Dr Bashfield's newly published short book 'Submarine Cables', the pair will discuss what Australia should do to secure its own cable network, and how can it seize the opportunity to become an Indo-Pacific preferred cable hub.
Register here: aiiavic.glueup.com/event/is-…
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It's live! My short book 'Submarine Cables' is out today, fully open access, with @CambridgeUP Elements in Indo-Pacific Security series - free to read.
Why do states compete to control cable networks? My nodes-flows-production typology, and more.
Feedback welcome!
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Samuel Bashfield retweeted
One of the great joys of working for the Economist is the willingness of experts and readers to share their knowledge with you. I learned a great deal from @SamuelBashfield and @elinanoor's work on this subject in particular.
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How did the US come to acquire Diego Garcia - now one of its most critical overseas bases? My book on the secretive and illegal creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory to be published with @OUPAcademic across North America.
Now open for pre-order: global.oup.com/academic/prod…
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"The seabed is a battlefield" - Richard Marles at the Shangri-La Dialogue this month.
Submarine cable security has moved from the margins to the centre of strategic debate. At this moment, I'm delighted to announce my forthcoming short book: "Submarine Cables" (@CambridgeUP ).
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Many jump to conclusions. This volume re-examines the basics - questioning the surge in policy attention, and mapping how states compete to control the networks carrying the world's data amid Sino-US rivalry.
Part of the Cambridge Elements in Indo-Pacific Security series.
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"Submarine Cables" is a key deliverable of my Australian Department of Defence Strategic Policy Grant. Open Access - free to read - with print copies for sale soon.
Available from 28 August. Now listed on Cambridge Core: cambridge.org/core/elements/…
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