PSI initiatives in Pacific region are strengthening basis for further multilateral cooperation

Transnational threats are an issue for all nations in the SCS, and although PSI forms a framework for WMD interdiction, more critically it creates a venue for multinational cooperation, a critical PACOM function. To date 40 PSI exercises have taken place, all directly supporting the PACOM Theater Security Cooperation Plan.78 Moreover, these exercises aren’t just a check in the box for the U.S., or another tick on a chart to show international support. Exercise DEEP SABRE II conducted in 2009 by Singapore, for example, was incredibly successful with 19 major maritime nations participating.79 Furthermore, these exercises build partnership capacity that can be leveraged in the future.80 As the U.S. Maritime strategy states: “No one nation has the resources required to provide the safety and security throughout the entire maritime domain,”81and ultimately legitimacy must underpin that philosophy.