... most intimate ally in the war on terror, India chose to keep a low profile even as Pakistan... more ... most intimate ally in the war on terror, India chose to keep a low profile even as Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf won his ... HINA PRESENTS THE biggest geopolitical test for both the US and India, and relations with China have always been more decisive for the ...
T he U.S. rebalancing strategy toward Asia announced by the Obama administration has been long ov... more T he U.S. rebalancing strategy toward Asia announced by the Obama administration has been long overdue. Despite the end of the Cold War in Europe, policy inertia in Washington meant that a large portion of U.S. military resources continued to be deployed in the Atlantic. This imbalance was further exacerbated by the two prolonged and costly military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. A new consensus also prevailed in Washington that there was no potential great-power peer competitor to the United States and that it thus had the luxury of experimenting with nation-building and democracy-promotion in the Middle East and beyond. The costly interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have disabused many in the U.S. foreign policy establishment of their post–Cold War beliefs about the efficacy of American power in changing the world for good. They have instead been persuaded that it is time for the United States to look after its own vital national interests. Moreover, the U.S. diplomatic and military pivot to Asia had been delayed by a misreading of China’s intentions toward the United States over the years. Many in the United States were quite convinced that the rise of China was likely to be peaceful and that China could, with some purposeful U.S. effort, be integrated into the current international system. This assumption, however, became untenable after President Obama’s unsuccessful visit to China in November 2009. Beijing, which seemed to have concluded that the United States was on an irreversible path of decline, had no interest in Washington’s strategic reassurance or its offers to jointly manage the problems of the world. Worse still, China’s military and political assertiveness during 2009–11 demanded urgent responses from the Obama administration. Any further delay in announcing the pivot would have weakened U.S. alliances in Asia and raised the threat of China’s successful “Finlandization” of the continent’s rimland. The tension between China’s growing military capabilities and the sustainability of the U.S. military’s forward presence in Asia would have
... full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/09733159.2010.559779 C. Raja Mohan * pages 1-12. Availabl... more ... full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/09733159.2010.559779 C. Raja Mohan * pages 1-12. Available online: 15 Feb 2011. ... Introduction. ... Admiral Arun Prakash, thank you for giving me the privilege of speaking at the National Maritime Foundation. Admiral Nirmal Verma, Chief of ...
... decision to turn down the US request to lead the UN Democ-racy Caucus reportedly left Washing... more ... decision to turn down the US request to lead the UN Democ-racy Caucus reportedly left Washington puzzled. As journalist Malini Par-... cluding ending the Sri Lankan civil war on the principles of federalism and protecting minority rights as well as encouraging political respon ...
‘Asia is one of the world’s most complex regions and one whose impact is increasingly felt global... more ‘Asia is one of the world’s most complex regions and one whose impact is increasingly felt globally. No one can claim to understand geopolitics anywhere without some understanding of Asian geopolitics. This is an invaluable, clear and comprehensive guide to the past, present and possible futures of Asian geopolitics.’ Bilahari Kausikan, former permanent secretary of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ‘This Adelphi book accurately captures the present-day Asian anxieties over an unravelling regional order and a future filled with geopolitical strife and unknown dangers.’ Yao Yunzhu, retired major-general, Chinese People’s Liberation Army ‘An important contribution to informed debate on the various visions for Asia’s future strategic order. Its sub-regional approach allows for cogent analysis of the unique dynamic and circumstances prevailing in each sub-region, while at the same time offering identification of some of the common challenges and opportunities.’ Marty Natalegawa, former foreign minister of Indonesia Intensifying geopolitical rivalries, rising defence spending and the proliferation of the latest military technology across Asia suggest that the region is set for a prolonged period of strategic contestation. None of the three competing visions for the future of Asian order – a US-led ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, a Chinese-centred order, or the ASEAN-inspired ‘Indo-Pacific Outlook’ – is likely to prevail in the short to medium term. In the absence of a new framework, the risk of open conflict is heightened, and along with it the need for effective mechanisms to maintain peace and stability. As Asia’s leaders seek to rebuild their economies and societies in the wake of COVID-19, they would do well to reflect upon the lessons offered by the pandemic and their applicability in the strategic realm. The societies that have navigated the crisis most effectively have been able to do so by putting in place stringent protective measures. Crisis-management and -avoidance mechanisms – and even, in the longer term, wider arms control – can be seen as the strategic equivalent of such measures, and as such they should be pursued with urgency in Asia to reduce the risks of an even greater calamity.
... most intimate ally in the war on terror, India chose to keep a low profile even as Pakistan... more ... most intimate ally in the war on terror, India chose to keep a low profile even as Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf won his ... HINA PRESENTS THE biggest geopolitical test for both the US and India, and relations with China have always been more decisive for the ...
T he U.S. rebalancing strategy toward Asia announced by the Obama administration has been long ov... more T he U.S. rebalancing strategy toward Asia announced by the Obama administration has been long overdue. Despite the end of the Cold War in Europe, policy inertia in Washington meant that a large portion of U.S. military resources continued to be deployed in the Atlantic. This imbalance was further exacerbated by the two prolonged and costly military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. A new consensus also prevailed in Washington that there was no potential great-power peer competitor to the United States and that it thus had the luxury of experimenting with nation-building and democracy-promotion in the Middle East and beyond. The costly interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have disabused many in the U.S. foreign policy establishment of their post–Cold War beliefs about the efficacy of American power in changing the world for good. They have instead been persuaded that it is time for the United States to look after its own vital national interests. Moreover, the U.S. diplomatic and military pivot to Asia had been delayed by a misreading of China’s intentions toward the United States over the years. Many in the United States were quite convinced that the rise of China was likely to be peaceful and that China could, with some purposeful U.S. effort, be integrated into the current international system. This assumption, however, became untenable after President Obama’s unsuccessful visit to China in November 2009. Beijing, which seemed to have concluded that the United States was on an irreversible path of decline, had no interest in Washington’s strategic reassurance or its offers to jointly manage the problems of the world. Worse still, China’s military and political assertiveness during 2009–11 demanded urgent responses from the Obama administration. Any further delay in announcing the pivot would have weakened U.S. alliances in Asia and raised the threat of China’s successful “Finlandization” of the continent’s rimland. The tension between China’s growing military capabilities and the sustainability of the U.S. military’s forward presence in Asia would have
... full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/09733159.2010.559779 C. Raja Mohan * pages 1-12. Availabl... more ... full text Full access. DOI: 10.1080/09733159.2010.559779 C. Raja Mohan * pages 1-12. Available online: 15 Feb 2011. ... Introduction. ... Admiral Arun Prakash, thank you for giving me the privilege of speaking at the National Maritime Foundation. Admiral Nirmal Verma, Chief of ...
... decision to turn down the US request to lead the UN Democ-racy Caucus reportedly left Washing... more ... decision to turn down the US request to lead the UN Democ-racy Caucus reportedly left Washington puzzled. As journalist Malini Par-... cluding ending the Sri Lankan civil war on the principles of federalism and protecting minority rights as well as encouraging political respon ...
‘Asia is one of the world’s most complex regions and one whose impact is increasingly felt global... more ‘Asia is one of the world’s most complex regions and one whose impact is increasingly felt globally. No one can claim to understand geopolitics anywhere without some understanding of Asian geopolitics. This is an invaluable, clear and comprehensive guide to the past, present and possible futures of Asian geopolitics.’ Bilahari Kausikan, former permanent secretary of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ‘This Adelphi book accurately captures the present-day Asian anxieties over an unravelling regional order and a future filled with geopolitical strife and unknown dangers.’ Yao Yunzhu, retired major-general, Chinese People’s Liberation Army ‘An important contribution to informed debate on the various visions for Asia’s future strategic order. Its sub-regional approach allows for cogent analysis of the unique dynamic and circumstances prevailing in each sub-region, while at the same time offering identification of some of the common challenges and opportunities.’ Marty Natalegawa, former foreign minister of Indonesia Intensifying geopolitical rivalries, rising defence spending and the proliferation of the latest military technology across Asia suggest that the region is set for a prolonged period of strategic contestation. None of the three competing visions for the future of Asian order – a US-led ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, a Chinese-centred order, or the ASEAN-inspired ‘Indo-Pacific Outlook’ – is likely to prevail in the short to medium term. In the absence of a new framework, the risk of open conflict is heightened, and along with it the need for effective mechanisms to maintain peace and stability. As Asia’s leaders seek to rebuild their economies and societies in the wake of COVID-19, they would do well to reflect upon the lessons offered by the pandemic and their applicability in the strategic realm. The societies that have navigated the crisis most effectively have been able to do so by putting in place stringent protective measures. Crisis-management and -avoidance mechanisms – and even, in the longer term, wider arms control – can be seen as the strategic equivalent of such measures, and as such they should be pursued with urgency in Asia to reduce the risks of an even greater calamity.
QS VUW Subject Focus Summit on Politics and International Relations
"Power Shifts in the Asia-P... more QS VUW Subject Focus Summit on Politics and International Relations
"Power Shifts in the Asia-Pacific: Large and Small States Perspectives"
Victoria University of Wellington, February 19-21, 2020
This QS summit will bring leading academics and policy-makers to Wellington New Zealand to explore different perspectives on the changing geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region. In the face of increasing great power rivalry and competition in international economics and trade, how are regional relationships and institutions evolving? How can small-states maintain their influence and autonomy in more unstable times? What is the role of middle-powers? How does the shifting balance of power affect policy-making over non-traditional security issues like migration, climate change and people-trafficking?
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Papers by C. Raja Mohan
"Power Shifts in the Asia-Pacific: Large and Small States Perspectives"
Victoria University of Wellington, February 19-21, 2020
This QS summit will bring leading academics and policy-makers to Wellington New Zealand to explore different perspectives on the changing geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region. In the face of increasing great power rivalry and competition in international economics and trade, how are regional relationships and institutions evolving? How can small-states maintain their influence and autonomy in more unstable times? What is the role of middle-powers? How does the shifting balance of power affect policy-making over non-traditional security issues like migration, climate change and people-trafficking?