The Strategic Options Of Middle Powers In The Asia Pacific

This book analyses the responses of middle powers in the Asia-Pacific toward the contemporary great powers’ rivalry of the United States and China, through specific cases studies of South Korea, Australia, Japan, India, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Presenting local perspectives from multiple middle powers as they face the task of maintaining the international order in light of the recent competition between China and the United States, it further develops theories of foreign policy analyses, forming a systematic framework through initiating crucial concepts, including reluctant hedging, economic statecraft, and strategic position-taking. The contributions also provide an in-depth examination of the contemporary geo-politics of the region, including the impact of both the Trump and Biden administrations, Beijing’s “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy, cross-strait relations with Taiwan, and the influences of Japan, Vietnam, Australia and South Korea, revealing that regional middle powers do indeed exert influence on the direction of regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. Providing comprehensive studies of many regional powers in the Asia-Pacific, this will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of International Politics, Asian Politics, Asian Studies as well as policy makers on Asia-Pacific relations.

Security Strategies of Middle Powers in the Asia Pacific examines what drives the different regional security strategies of four middle powers in the Asia Pacific: Australia, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia. Drawing on the extant middle power literature, the authors argue that the regional security strategies of middle powers could take two forms, namely, functional or normative. A functional strategy means that the middle power targets its resources to address a specific problem that it has a high level of interest in, while a normative strategy refers to a focus on promoting general behavioural standards and confidence building at the multilateral level. This book argues that whether a middle power ultimately employs a more functional or normative regional security strategy depends on its resource availability and strategic environment.

This is the first work to examine the importance and role of middle powers in the key phenomenon of contemporary international politics, the rise of China. Middle powers have capabilities immediately below those of great powers yet exercise influence far above most other states in global trade and as allies or adversaries in regional security, arms proliferation, and global governance. The book reviews China's middle-power relations with South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa, Turkey, and Brazil. Contributors address how these diverse nations are responding to a rising China, the impact of Chinese power on each, and whether these states are being attracted to China or deterred by its new power and assertiveness. The book also explores how much (or how little) China, and for comparison the US, value middle powers and examines whether or not middle powers can actually shape China's behavior.

Investigating the dynamics of balancing patterns in the Asia-Pacific, this book focuses particularly on the contribution of great powers and middle powers to regional stability. Taking the US and China as great powers, and using ASEAN, Russia, Australia and South Korea as example of middle powers, the author addresses the following questions: Do middle powers influence balancing patterns in the Asia-Pacific? Are the United States and China balancing each other in the Asia-Pacific, and if so, by which means? What is the contribution of the English school to understanding balance of power dynamics? The Balance of Power in Asia-Pacific Security makes a persuasive contribution to the debate on the US-China relationship. Interviews with policy practitioners and academics in the region offer a systematic analysis of the complexities of Asia-Pacific security. Providing conceptual insights, this book gives a fresh understanding of the mechanisms necessary to maintain regional stability and explains the implications of US-China power balancing for global security. It will be an important resource for scholars and students of Asia-Pacific politics and security.

This book investigates whether a power shift has taken place in the Asia-Pacific region since the end of the Cold War. By systematically examining the development of power dynamics in Asia-Pacific, it challenges the notion that a wealthier and militarily more powerful China is automatically turning the regional tides in its favour. With a special emphasis on Sino-US competition, the book explores the alleged linkage between the regional distribution of relevant material and immaterial capabilities, national power and the much-cited regional power shift. The book presents a novel concept for measuring power in international relations by outlining a composite index on aggregated power (CIAP) that includes 55 variables for 44 regional countries and covers a period of twenty years. Moreover, it develops a middle power theory that outlines the significance of middle powers in times of major power shifts. By addressing political, military and economic cooperation via a structured-focused comparison and by applying a comparative-historical analysis, the book analyses in depth the bilateral relations of six regional middle powers to Washington and Beijing.

This book analyses the responses of middle powers in the Asia-Pacific toward the contemporary great powers’ rivalry of the United States and China, through specific cases studies of South Korea, Australia, Japan, India, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Presenting local perspectives from multiple middle powers as they face the task of maintaining the international order in light of the recent competition between China and the United States, it further develops theories of foreign policy analyses, forming a systematic framework through initiating crucial concepts, including reluctant hedging, economic statecraft, and strategic position-taking. The contributions also provide an in-depth examination of the contemporary geo-politics of the region, including the impact of both the Trump and Biden administrations, Beijing’s “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy, cross-strait relations with Taiwan, and the influences of Japan, Vietnam, Australia and South Korea, revealing that regional middle powers do indeed exert influence on the direction of regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. Providing comprehensive studies of many regional powers in the Asia-Pacific, this will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of International Politics, Asian Politics, Asian Studies as well as policy makers on Asia-Pacific relations.

Taking a comparative focus on Indonesia and Malaysia to inform and test a unifying theory for the concept of middle power (MP), Jonathan Ping's volume presents hybridization theory as a basis for analysis, policy development and prediction of MP statecraft and perceived power.

This open access edited book brings together a closer examination of European and Asian responses to the escalating rivalry between the US and China. As the new Cold War has surfaced as a perceivable reality in the post-COVID era, the topic itself is of great importance to policymakers, academic researchers, and the interested public. Furthermore, this manuscript makes a valuable contribution to an under-studied and increasingly important phenomenon in international relations: the impact of the growing strategic competition between the United States and China on third parties, such as small and middle powers in the two arguably most affected regions of the world: Europe and East Asia. The European side has been under-studied and explicitly comparative work on Europe and East Asia is extremely rare. Given that the manuscript focuses heavily on recent developments—and because many of these developments have been quite dramatic—there are very few publications that cover the same topics.