What effects did the Indian Ocean trade have on the societies who took part in it? Is it possible to argue that an Indian Ocean "community" existed?

Indian Ocean Trade has been a key factor in East-West exchanges throughout history. Long distance trade in dhows and sailboats made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Java in the East to Zanzibarand Mombasa in the West. Cities and states on the Indian Ocean rim were Janus-faced. They looked outward to the sea as much as they looked inward to the hinterland.