The Ascendancy of Regional Powers in Contemporary US-China Relations

ISBN-13: 9783031376115 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023

Opis

Great power competition is back on the world stage, and today’s international system is home to regional influences on great power relations that cannot be ignored. The United States’ unipolar moment is long over, and China’s hegemonic ambitions find expression in a comprehensive global competition with the US that plays out across multiple spheres of world politics. The US-China rivalry can be felt in geostrategic, economic, governance, diplomacy, intelligence, and technological spheres, to name a few. Most accounts of China-US relations in the context of great power conflict emphasize the many ways in which this rivalry has a ripple effect across the globe, with an impact upon the relations and interests of smaller powers. And while these effects are considerable and important, this book contends that attention must also be paid to the ways in which smaller, regional states have the potential to shape this great power rivalry. Put simply, great powers both shape, and are shaped by, smaller states. Any understanding of contemporary great power relations between the US and China requires both a top down, but also a bottom up consideration of the interplay between great powers and regional ones. Often the interests of regional powers are rooted in domestic considerations such as their identities and national interests, and these influences transcend borders and often have an impact upon the great powers. This book considers these smaller, regional actors and attempts to measure the extent to which they influence the US-China rivalry. For this study, constructivist theory, which prioritizes the agency that regional powers enjoy, is loosely used as a tool to enable a more robust and comprehensive understanding of the influences on the contemporary great power relationship. Each of the book’s chapters represents a region, or part of a region, that enjoys a considerable impact upon US-China relations. 

Spis treści

Introduction: Rethinking and Reframing the Great Power Rivalry 

Saira Bano and Kari Roberts 

Chapter 1: South Asia in U.S.-China Great Power Competition

Saira Bano 

Chapter 2: From Hedging to Balancing: Australia’s China Policy and Implications for US-China Rivalry

Alexander Korolev

Chapter 3: Perils on the Peninsula: Seoul Navigating the Sino-US Peer Competition

Zhaoying Han, Richard J. Cook, and Maximilian Ohle

Chapter 4: ASEAN’s Agency Amid U.S.-China Rivalry: Smaller States’ Dilemmas Across the Twin Chessboards

Nurliana Kamaruddin and Cheng-Chwee Kuik

Chapter 5: Central Asia and the US-China Rivalry 

Ramakrushna Pradhan 

Chapter 6: Russia’s Place in the Contemporary Great Power Rivalry 

Kari Roberts

Chapter 7: New Europe' to 16/17+1 and Beyond: The Positioning of Central, East and Southeast Europe in the context of the US-China Rivalry

Anastas Vangeli 

Chapter 8: The EU's Strategic Readjustment and its Impact on US-China Relations

Jing Men 

Chapter 9: Never Going to Let You Go: The Middle East, Great Power Competition, and the Rise of China

Jeremy Wildeman and Michael Atallah  

Chapter 10:  How Regional Powers Shape Great Power Rivalry: The Case of South Africa and Kenya

Mzukisi Qobo 

Chapter 11: Close Neighbors: How Latin America Shapes the U.S.-China Rivalry 

Ryan C. Berg and Henry Ziemer

Chapter 12:  Managing the Sino-American Arctic Rivalry 

Lauren Moslow

Chapter 13: Conclusion 

Kari Roberts and Saira Bano 

Chapter 14: Managing the Sino-American Arctic Rivalry

Thomas Hughes

Chapter 15: Conclusion

Kari Roberts and Saira Bano

O autorze

Kari Roberts is Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University (MRU). She is also a Coordinator of the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN).

Saira Bano is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, History, and Politics at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, British Columbia. Her research focuses on the nuclear non-proliferation regime, nuclear weapons issues in South Asia and IR theories.

Blurb

Great power competition is back on the world stage, and today’s international system is home to regional influences on great power relations that cannot be ignored. The United States’ unipolar moment is long over, and China’s hegemonic ambitions find expression in a comprehensive global competition with the US that plays out across multiple spheres of world politics. The US-China rivalry can be felt in geostrategic, economic, governance, diplomacy, intelligence, and technological spheres, to name a few. Most accounts of China-US relations in the context of great power conflict emphasize the many ways in which this rivalry has a ripple effect across the globe, with an impact upon the relations and interests of smaller powers. And while these effects are considerable and important, this book contends that attention must also be paid to the ways in which smaller, regional states have the potential to shape this great power rivalry. Put simply, great powers both shape, and are shaped by, smaller states. Any understanding of contemporary great power relations between the US and China requires both a top down, but also a bottom up consideration of the interplay between great powers and regional ones. Often the interests of regional powers are rooted in domestic considerations such as their identities and national interests, and these influences transcend borders and often have an impact upon the great powers. This book considers these smaller, regional actors and attempts to measure the extent to which they influence the US-China rivalry. For this study, constructivist theory, which prioritizes the agency that regional powers enjoy, is loosely used as a tool to enable a more robust and comprehensive understanding of the influences on the contemporary great power relationship. Each of the book’s chapters represents a region, or part of a region, that enjoys a considerable impact upon US-China relations. 

Kari Roberts is Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University (MRU). She is also a Coordinator of the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN).

Saira Bano is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, History, and Politics at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, British Columbia. Her research focuses on the nuclear non-proliferation regime, nuclear weapons issues in South Asia and IR theories.