Doha Forum endorses a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)

Speaking at the prestigious Doha Forum on Sunday, China expert Dr Alessandro Arduino warned that the Indo-Pacific's digital infrastructure is becoming a frontline of strategic competition, with undersea cables emerging as a key battleground in an increasingly contested region.

Addressing delegates during a panel on cybersecurity and geopolitical risk, Dr Arduino said states now face "multilayered and increasingly hybrid pressure" from a widening range of actors. He noted that algorithms operating at "AI speed" can influence political decisions, distort trust in information and shape the strategic environment in ways that governments are struggling to adapt to.

Dr Arduino also highlighted a shift in the global balance of technological power. While he described the geopolitical environment as "more fragmented and more multipolar," he argued that artificial intelligence competition remains a bipolar world between the United States and China.

Against this backdrop, Dr Arduino argued that Japan's policy of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) offers the most coherent framework for strengthening resilience in an age of increasing global competition.
FOIP, first outlined by Tokyo and now shared by its key regional allies, is a strategy built on open sea lanes, a commitment to international law and collective security across both oceans.

FOIP deters coercion from hostile actors by ensuring that no single actor can dominate the Indo-Pacific or the digital arteries that run along its seabed.

He described FOIP as the "Japanese option", a strategy designed to encourage "bandwagoning... to have multiple players addressing the issue of threats to national security." He suggested that this multilateral alignment is becoming a central pillar of security policy as digital and maritime frontiers become more contested.

He pointed to Ukraine as a cautionary example of what happens when resilience and strategy flexibility are ignored. Kyiv, he said, "didn't have the luxury of time" when its data centres were destroyed and was therefore forced to move military and civilian communications infrastructure to the cloud.

Dr. Arduino said FOIP's principles – namely, collective action; multiple, inclusive partnerships; and a clear commitment to upholding international law – will increasingly shape regional responses to potential vulnerabilities.

Japan's push for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, in concert with nations like the U.S. and Australia but also key ASEAN partners, shows that the time for action is now.