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The strategic importance of the Indian Ocean has increased steadily in recent years as the center of gravity for global economic and political activity has shifted from the Atlantic Ocean to the Asia-Pacific. With global trade in oil, natural gas, and manufactured goods dependent on unfettered transit through the Indian Ocean, major and nonmajor powers alike have an interest in ensuring the security of these waters. Yet there is little agreement on precisely how to ensure that security, and rising powers like India and China are beginning to spar over this former "strategic backwater." Is an escalating Sino-Indian rivalry in the Indian Ocean inevitable? Are American and Indian interests truly aligned in these waters? What role will other regional actors play? Will there be military competition in the Indian Ocean? Two panels of distinguished speakers will address these and other questions at this AEI event.