This book examines how major powers in the Indo-Pacific region cope with and respond to the potential order transition against the background of the strategic competition between the US and China. The world is in a crisis and the liberal international order is at stake with the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war indicating a possible order transition in the international system. The Indo Pacific region has become the focal point of intense competition between the United States and China. Against this backdrop, the chapters in this volume explore how policy elites in the area have attempted to address the potential order transition, and how different states - including great and middle powers - have been employing various strategies to deal with the security and economic challenges in the region. The complexity of the international order has made this order transition particularly challenging, making it a difficult time for both state leaders and scholars alike. It is the best of times, and it is the worst of times. This book provides an academic platform for graduate students, scholars and policy experts to approach this topic from different theoretical and national perspectives. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The Pacific Review.
Introduction: Navigating international order transition in the Indo Pacific 1. International order transition and US-China strategic competition in the Indo Pacific 2. Balance of power, balance of alignment, and China’s role in the regional order transition 3. US perspectives on the power shift in the Indo-Pacific 4. Japan in the Indo-Pacific: domestic politics and foreign policy 5. The US-led security network in the Indo-Pacific in international order transition: a South Korean perspective 6. Indonesia’s hedging plus policy in the face of China’s rise and the US-China rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region 7. India and order transition in the Indo-Pacific: resisting the Quad as a ‘security community’ 8. International order transition and the UK’s tilt to the ‘Indo-Pacific’
Kai He is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Huiyun Feng is Professor of International Relations in the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.