UNDERSTANDING
THE MEGA-REGION

A Changing Indo-Pacific and the Blue Economy

The traditional lens of the Indo-Pacific is no longer sufficient to capture the strategic realities reshaping Eurasia. A new mega-region is emerging — stretching from the eastern Mediterranean through South Asia to Southeast Asia — defined by its southern maritime rim and the Indian Ocean at its core. Today, this Pacific-Indo-Middle East mega-region is not only a geographic linkage but also a dynamic hub where energy resources, critical minerals, undersea data cables, and chokepoints like the Suez Canal, the Bab-al-Mandab, and the Strait of Malacca converge to shape global commerce and security. Failing to recognize this vast area as an integrated whole — rather than fragmented sub-regions of West Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia — is both strategically unsound and economically shortsighted.

At the heart of this mega-region lies an extraordinary economic opportunity: the blue economy. Far more than seaborne trade, the blue economy encompasses shipbuilding, modern ports, undersea cable infrastructure, offshore energy extraction, seabed mining, and aquaculture. China recognized this potential over a decade ago. Through its Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing continues to build and strengthen its blue economy advantages — mapping underwater cable networks, surveying seabed minerals in the Indian Ocean, and dominating commercial and naval shipbuilding. Meanwhile, the U.S. risks ceding this massive economic and strategic domain to rivals by continuing to view the region through a narrow security lens shaped by recent conflicts rather than long-term economic vision.

India as the hinge state

India stands as the indispensable hinge of this mega-region. Though a large landmass and regional power, India is strategically positioned like an island — surrounded by the Indian Ocean and bordered by less-than-friendly neighbors — making access to trade routes, energy, and resources both vital and complex. India's connections to Israel, the Gulf Arab states, Southeast Asia, and the QUAD partnership with the U.S., Japan, and Australia, make it the logical anchor of the mega-region's blue economy. Yet the full potential of these relationships remains unrealized, and the competition among Eurasia's dominant powers — China, Russia, and Iran — will only intensify as U.S. military commitments in the region evolve.

The U.S.-India opportunity

A cooperative U.S.-India strategy offers the most promising path forward. The two countries could pursue a broad bilateral blue economy initiative spanning maritime industry, digital infrastructure, critical minerals, and energy. Such a partnership would attract wider participation, stimulate technological cooperation, knit West and East Asia together economically, and provide a meaningful alternative to China's expanding influence across Eurasia. Paired with structured security cooperation — including Australia and Japan — it would shape military capabilities, defense industrial bases, and the architecture of a new regional order.

The Hoover Institution through a series of focused workshops, is working to envision alternative futures for the region and prioritize the most urgent areas of U.S.-India cooperation. To date, the Hoover Institution has held two workshops and plans to hold a series of additional workshops to identify major opportunities for U.S.-India collaboration in the mega-region. At the end of these workshops, the Hoover Institution will release a strategy detailing how the U.S.-India can jointly collaborate on building the blue economy to ensure a secure and prosperous mega-region. Who leads in defining the mega-region's trajectory will hold a decisive strategic advantage for decades to come. The opportunity is extraordinary — and the window to seize it is open now.