Asian Geopolitics and the US–China Rivalry

Description

This book analyses the ways in which foreign policy actors in Asia have responded to the emerging great power conflict between the US and the People's Republic of China focusing on medium and small states across the Indo-Pacific. The book offers a much-needed counterpoint to existing analyses on the Indo-Pacific and China’s BRI and presents a new perspective by examining how great power politics are locally reinterpreted, conditioned, or at times even contested. It illustrates the policy-level challenges which the US-China rivalry poses for established political and economic practices and outlines how these challenges can be best addressed by smaller states and their societies. A timely assessment of the power play in the Indo-Pacific with the angle of Sino-American rivalry, this book makes an important contribution to the study of Political Science, International Relations, Asian Studies and Security Studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements Notes on contributors List of abbreviations 1 Dancing with elephants: Asia and the Sino-American rivalry 2 From globalisation to fragmentation? The erosion of confidence in the Asia-Pacific 3 Many players, many layers: the Indo-Pacific long game 4 “Making Multilateralism Matter”: middle powers in the era of the US-China competition 5 Security order and state transformation in Asia: beyond geopolitics and grand strategy 6 Reflecting on US-China rivalries in post-conflict Sri Lanka 7 India, Indo-Pacific coalitions and China: from alignment to alliance? 8 Major power competition and Southeast Asia: institutional strategies and resources 9 From appeasement to soft balancing: the Duterte administration’s shifting policy on the South China Sea imbroglio 10 Beyond strategic hedging: Mahathir’s China policy and the changing political economy of Malaysia, 2018–2020 11 Midfield or margin? Myanmar and neighbours in the game 12 The role of domestic political constraints in navigating great power relations: the case of South Korea Index