Dr. Scott Edwards

I am a research associate on the Transnational Organised Crime at Sea project. I currently research various 'blue crimes' and responses to them in the Indo-Pacific, where I primarily focus on the proliferation of multilateral and institutional responses to maritime insecurity in the region and its implications for region building. As part of my role I am the lead author of SafeSea's upcoming evidence base on blue crime.

My broader research interests include maritime security, inter-state cooperative mechanisms for countering maritime security issues, the international relations of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, Malaysian politics, and Indonesian politics. These research interests constituted my PhD thesis, which focused on the role of trust in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations security community. In particular, I focused on the mediating impact of trust on the crises that occurred between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, with an emphasis on maritime competition and parallel maritime cooperation. I am increasingly interested in the UK's maritime role in the Indo-Pacific, in light of the UK's Indo-Pacific tilt, and what implications this has for regional responses to maritime insecurity.