https://hspublishing.org/ASSM <p><strong>Advances in Social Sciences and Management (ASSM)</strong> is an open access and double blind peer-reviewed international journal published on a bimonthly basis. Our journal aims to provide a platform for scholars and practitioners to share their innovative ideas, methods, and findings in the field of social sciences. In this edition, we have assembled a diverse collection of research articles that cover a broad range of topics within the social sciences. Our contributors come from different parts of the world, and their research draws on a range of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. We hope that our readers will find these articles informative and thought-provoking.</p> Headstart Publishing - United Kingdom en-US Advances in Social Sciences and Management 3049-7108 https://hspublishing.org/ASSM/article/view/1652 <p>Over the past two decades and more, maritime terrorism in the Indian Ocean Region has evolved from relatively limited ac-tivities such as hijackings and coastal damage into a more complex and technologically sophisticated threat that increasingly endangers global sea lines of communication and maritime trade. Today, terrorist groups exploit advanced navigation sys-tems, cyber tools, unmanned platforms, and transnational criminal networks, often operating through unprotected choke-points and fragile coastal governance structures, while also associating with piracy and organized crime. Although numerous regional and international responses, including naval collaboration, maritime domain awareness initiatives, and coun-ter-terrorism frameworks, have been implemented, they remain fragmented and largely reactive, limiting their effectiveness against an adaptive threat environment. The study therefore emphasizes the need for an all-inclusive and forward-looking maritime security strategy grounded in multilateral cooperation, legal harmonization, technological unification, capacity development, and socio-economic growth of coastal communities to ensure long-term stability in the Indian Ocean maritime domain.</p> Md. Ataus Samad Raju Koushik Chandra Barmanhridoy Sanjida Wadud Upama Fouzia Sultana Chowdhury Silma Subah Chowdhury Kaniz Morshed Copyright (c) 2026 Md. Ataus Samad Raju, Koushik Chandra Barmanhridoy, Sanjida Wadud Upama, Fouzia Sultana Chowdhury, Silma Subah Chowdhury, Kaniz Morshed http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 2026-09-08 2026-09-08 4 05 01 22 10.63002/assm.405.1652