Not yet all aboard ... but already all at sea over container security initiative

Prior to September 11 there was a popular saying that "a terrorist is some who has a bomb, but does not have an air force". Thay saying is now passe. The September 11 attacks on the US have put paid to such confident assumptions. They sent powerful shockwaves that threatened to shatter the very core of public confidence in the world's transportation system. They have shown how civilian transports can be used to murderously target civilians en masse. They have also brought into sharp focus the grim reality that transportation security can no longer be considered a tertiary issue, but one that warrants serious critical examination by all governments and the business world. The US Customs Service's Container Security Initiative (CSI) is one such radical product of that urgent reassessment. it has mad big waves throughout the world of maritime commerce and security policy. This paper provides a broad appraisal of the take-up of the CSI thus far. It examines and elaborates on the many concern (i.e., sovereignty, security, commercial interests, technology, trade regime renovation et al) related to CSI adoption, implementation could be pursued by the Americans and all prospective partners concerned. The paper hopes to make a timely contribution to the nascent academic/policy discourse on a matter of keen (inter)national interest.