Hindsight Insight Foresight Thinking About Security In The Indo Pacific

Hindsight, Insight, Foresight is a tour d’horizon of security issues in the Indo-Pacific. Written by 20 current and former members of the faculty at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, its 21 chapters provide hindsight, insight, and foresight on numerous aspects of security in the region. This book will help readers to understand the big picture, grasp the changing faces, and comprehend the local dynamics of regional security.

The book emanates from the geopolitical and geo-economic churning and transformations set in motion by the unprecedented economic rise of China resulting in its expanding political influence across the region and the world. In both the economic and the security realms, the United States and China alike are increasingly seen contesting in shaping the Indo-Pacific regional order to their own advantage. This book unfolds the contours and dimensions of China’s responses to various multilateral initiatives of the US and its friends and allies like Japan, Australia, and India and, to some extent, even ASEAN. While China’s medium-term strategy envisages a non-hostile external environment in order to focus on domestic priorities; reducing dependence of littoral nations of the Indo-Pacific region on America while increasing their engagement and dependence on China. China's expanding reach and influence overseas has resulted in US-led initiatives being China-focused inviting a response from China where adverse reactions have become increasingly palpable.

This book explores the transformation of the American-led alliances, as well as of US allies’ responses to potential American disengagement from regional security amid the rising Russian and Chinese threats. The post-Cold War international order has led to three challenges for the West. The first challenge was the ending of the Cold War, which had served as the fundamental rationale of the US-centred alliance systems in both Europe and Asia. The second challenge was that while the fear of US disengagement in the post-Cold War era was initially about its political willingness, the relative decline of the US has gradually turned the question into that of capability. And the third challenge is that for the first time since very long, a war in which one of the great (nuclear) powers is involved takes place on European territory. In Europe, the immediate consequence of the war has been a strengthening of NATO. In Asia and the Indo-Pacific, regional reactions to the war have been much more muted, for the division between “friends and foes” remains less clear-cut than in Europe. The chapters in this volume bridge the dynamics in the European and Asian theatres and provide a comparative framework for examining security alignments amid the shifting strategic context of the Indo-Pacific. With 4 new chapters and a revised Introduction, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Politics and International Relations, Asian and European studies. The other chapters were originally published in Asian Affairs.

This book provides several up-to-date empirical policy-oriented studies on assessing the impacts of climate change on various economic sectors and the role of renewable energy resources in mitigating pollution and climate change. It suggests various policy recommendations on how to increase the share of renewable energy resources in the energy baskets of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the rest of the world to ensure energy sustainability. As of 2020, most of the world’s energy investment still went to carbon-emitting sources, namely, fossil fuels. On the other hand, the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic Project Overview 20 March 2021 08:39 Page 6 of 9 downturns shrank the global energy demand, including fossil fuels, resulting in a sharp drop in their prices. Low fossil fuel prices are harmful to developing renewable energy projects, making solar, wind, and other renewable energy resources less competitive as sources of electricity. This is endangering the Paris agreement and the “Climate Action” goal of the United Nations. Given the high share of fossil fuels in the energy mix of the members of ASEAN, tremendous challenges must be faced for their energy transition in the post-Covid-19 world. The authors call for sound policy and applicable technologies to ensure sustainable energy availability, accessibility, and affordability to reach emission reduction targets.

Nepal has a non-neutral history. As an imperial and expansionist power in the Himalayas from the days of its unification in 1769 AD to the Anglo-Nepal war of 1815, Nepal never remained neutral. Also, during the period of Colonialism in South Asia, and particularly after losing the war with the British in 1816, Nepal never exercised the policy of neutrality. Rather, Nepal was raiding Tibet; assisting British India in Sepoy Mutiny; and stood by Britain in the two world wars. Besides, Nepal militarily backed independent India in 1948 over Hyderabad question. But why Nepal suddenly had to take a refuge in neutrality after the political change of 1950? Was it because of Nepal’s internal politics, or an attempt to cope with new arrangements in regional security? Nepal’s fascination with neutrality was so swifter and inadvertent that Kathmandu, hitherto, has never initiated any policy debates over the all-weather choice. Power elites in Nepal still misperceive neutrality as non-alignment. The aim of the book, however, is not only limited to distinguishing neutrality with non-alignment in the Nepali context but weighs Nepal’s claim to neutrality through the Indian and Chinese perceptions to underline the presence of ambiguity and uncertainty in Nepal’s claim to neutrality. Illustrating Nepal’s attempt to neutrality as a mere survival strategy, this study is less hopeful about Nepal’s foreign policy institutions abandoning their Cold War worldview by embracing the strategy of sustenance in today’s interdependent and globalized world. Because, as the book suggests, power elites in Kathmandu are customarily lured by the ephemeral yet sporadic geopolitical ambitions, either through discourses or deeds.

The United States-Australia alliance has been an important component of the US-led system of alliances that has underpinned regional security in the Indo-Pacific since 1945. However, recent geostrategic developments, in particular the rise of the People’s Republic of China, have posed significant challenges to this US-led regional order. In turn, the growing strategic competition between these two great powers has generated challenges to the longstanding US-Australia alliance. Both the US and Australia are confronting a changing strategic environment, and, as a result, the alliance needs to respond to the challenges that they face. The US needs to understand the challenges and risks to this vital relationship, which is growing in importance, and take steps to manage it. On its part, Australia must clearly identify its core common interests with the US and start exploring what more it needs to do to attain its stated policy preferences. This book consists of chapters exploring US and Australian perspectives of the Indo-Pacific, the evolution of Australia-US strategic and defence cooperation, and the future of the relationship. Written by a joint US-Australia team, the volume is aimed at academics, analysts, students, and the security and business communities.

International trade is a key dimension of the world economy, it is a critical factor in raising living standards, increasing employment, and providing a larger variety of goods to consumers around the world. Despite the strong focus that international trade research has received in theoretical terms, the empirical aspects of trade are less clear and justify further research. In this context, it is essential for studies to focus on shedding light on the most important methods used to evaluate the multiple dimensions of trade within this international context. Trade has a myriad of direct and indirect effects, therefore touching several fields of research, including economics, management, finance, international relations, political science, and sociology, which makes it essential to explore. The Handbook of Research on the Empirical Aspects of Strategic Trade Negotiations and Management provides a systematic overview of the latest trends in the empirical analysis of trade from international perspectives. It provides a survey on the methods used to evaluate a specific topic in international trade, enhance knowledge about the multiple facets of international trade around the world, and grant in-depth surveys of previous empirical findings on specific topics in international trade. Important topics covered within this book include trade diversification, regional centrality, ethical pricing, globalization, cultural impacts, and open economies. This book is a valuable reference tool for government officials, policy makers, managers, executives, economists, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students.

This book attempts to capture the tremendous growth in Chinese investment in the South Asian region in the recent past. It makes country-wise analysis of the factors that led to the growth of Chinese investment in the region and explores the nature and role of such investment in expanding trade in the region. It also discusses in detail the Chinese infrastructure investment through Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Interestingly, despite being the major investor in several countries, Chinese investment has been seen with some level of doubt. Apprehension about Chinese investment has forced countries to suspend China-funded projects or amend their investment policies. This book tries to address these crucial issues while exploring and analyzing the causes and effects of the same.