About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


13 J. Territorial & Mar. Stud. 3 (2026)

handle is hein.journals/jtms13 and id is 1 raw text is: Editor's Comments Dear JTMS Readers, Greetings once again from the Journal of Territorial and Maritime Studies. As we move through 2025, the maritime and geopolitical landscape continues to reveal both the endur- ing significance of the law of the sea and the adaptive resilience of states facing evolving regional and technological challenges. The articles in this issue illuminate how legal inno- vation, strategic calculation, and governance reform intersect across multiple maritime domains-from Europe and the Indo-Pacific to Southeast Asia and beyond. Our first contribution, by Panagiotis Palaios and Andreas-Minos Zompanakis, explores the role of geopolitical uncertainty in defense procurement through a case study of the Hellenic Navy's 2021 frigate acquisition. By integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Pro- cess with a volatility-based geopolitical risk model, the authors demonstrate how strategic alliances, technology transfer, and defense industrial cooperation can reshape procure- ment outcomes, urging decision-makers to incorporate geopolitical variables into quanti- tative frameworks for future acquisitions. Our second article, by Deniz Kocak, examines maritime critical infrastructure and hybrid threats in Southeast Asia. Drawing on securitization theory and content analysis of defense policy documents, the study reveals how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states pursue divergent technological and governance strategies despite shared vulnerabilities. Kocak highlights that modular, threat-specific cooperation-rather than broad multilateralism-offers the most viable path to regional resilience in the face of hybrid cyber and subsea threats. The third contribution, by Ginlay Cagla Firath, revisits United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) compulsory jurisdiction in disputes pending maritime delimitation. Through textual and contextual interpretation, the article argues that obli- gations of conduct under Articles 74(3) and 83(3) remain justiciable even where states have invoked the Article 298 opt-out clause. This insight strengthens the jurisprudence of coop- erative conduct and underscores how legal interpretation can promote dialogue and provi- sional arrangements despite contested boundaries. The fourth article, by Ipsa Sahu, turns to strategic diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific through the case of the Philippines. Using discourse analysis of official documents and elite narratives, Sahu maps Manila's adaptive engagement with the United States, China, India, Japan, and South Korea. The study shows how the Philippines navigates great-power rivalry by diversifying security partnerships, maintaining strategic auton- omy, and advancing a rules-based maritime order that aligns smaller-state agency with multipolar realities. Editor's Comments 3