Published Online:July 2026
Product Name:The IUP Journal of International Relations
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJIR010726
DOI:10.71329/IUPJIR/2026.20.3.7-19
Author Name:Harini Sridhar and Shreya Upadhyay
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:7-19
Maritime insecurity in the Red Sea corridor has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, particularly amid Yemen’s prolonged political fragmentation. In most cases, maritime security studies and theories define piracy as an economically motivated criminal activity that occurs in the context of a poor governance situation. However, the Yemeni case is more complex in terms of security dynamics with the insurgent groups, transnational smuggling networks and the international naval forces interacting with each other within the maritime space. The paper uses an exploratory qualitative approach to view how state fragmentation reshapes maritime security dynamics in the Red Sea corridor. Based on secondary data from academic literature, maritime security research papers, and conflict analyses, the study mainly looks at the relationship and the interaction between governance vacuums, actor convergence, and evolving maritime threat patterns. A framework called Hybrid Maritime Insecurity Framework is developed, which is used to explain how fragmented states give rise to the convergence of political and criminal actors and facilitate the hybridization of maritime threats. The findings suggest that maritime insecurity in the Red Sea increasingly reflects a hybrid conflict environment in which piracy, insurgency, and geopolitical competition overlap.
The Red Sea lies between two continents, Africa and Asia, separating the Middle East and the Far East, as well as Europe and Asia. It is the heart of the area and a link between two worlds.