Biden And Beyond: The United States Rethinks South Asia
Biden And Beyond: The United States Rethinks South Asia

Author: C Raja Mohan

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2024-06-07

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 9811276447

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Biden and Beyond: The United States Rethinks South Asia captures the significant transitions unfolding in the US policy towards South Asia. Developed across two administrations, led by Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the US' South Asia policy has moved away from more than four decades of focus on Afghanistan, especially after the military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, to now viewing the region through the Indo-Pacific prism. The military withdrawal has also undermined the US' long-standing strategic partnership with Pakistan that was viewed as the frontline state in dealing with the turmoil in Afghanistan. This has substantially altered Washington's geopolitical perspective of the South Asian subcontinent.Furthermore, the rising concerns in Washington on China have seen the formulation of an Indo-Pacific strategy that has elevated India to the top of US strategic priorities. The deepening tensions between China and the US, as well as between Beijing and Delhi, have set the stage for a new strategic partnership between Washington and Delhi. Amidst Washington's competition with Beijing, the Himalayan region girding the underbelly of China has acquired an importance of its own. The maritime perspective of the US has also raised the value of the subcontinent's waters and provided an incentive for Washington to turn new attention to the strategic islands of the Maldives and Sri Lanka.Taken together, these factors presage a transformation in the interaction between the US and the South Asian subcontinent in the coming years. This book, hence, brings into the conversation these recent changes and sheds new light on contemporary US-South Asia relations.

Biden and Beyond
Biden and Beyond

Author: Hernaikh Singh C Raja Mohan

Publisher:

Published: 2024-06-17

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789811276422

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Biden and Beyond: The United States Rethinks South Asia captures the significant transitions unfolding in the US policy towards South Asia. Developed across two administrations, led by Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the US' South Asia policy has moved away from more than four decades of focus on Afghanistan, especially after the military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, to now viewing the region through the Indo-Pacific prism. The military withdrawal has also undermined the US' long-standing strategic partnership with Pakistan that was viewed as the frontline state in dealing with the turmoil in Afghanistan. This has substantially altered Washington's geopolitical perspective of the South Asian subcontinent. Furthermore, the rising concerns in Washington on China have seen the formulation of an Indo-Pacific strategy that has elevated India to the top of US strategic priorities. The deepening tensions between China and the US, as well as between Beijing and Delhi, have set the stage for a new strategic partnership between Washington and Delhi. Amidst Washington's competition with Beijing, the Himalayan region girding the underbelly of China has acquired an importance of its own. The maritime perspective of the US has also raised the value of the subcontinent's waters and provided an incentive for Washington to turn new attention to the strategic islands of the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Taken together, these factors presage a transformation in the interaction between the US and the South Asian subcontinent in the coming years. This book, hence, brings into the conversation these recent changes and sheds new light on contemporary US-South Asia relations.

Correcting the Course: How the Biden Administration Should Compete for Influence in the Indo-Pacific
Correcting the Course: How the Biden Administration Should Compete for Influence in the Indo-Pacific

Author: Ashley Townshend

Publisher: United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney

Published: 2021-08-27

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 1742105041

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Key judgements 1. The Biden administration’s approach to the Indo-Pacific has so far lacked focus and urgency. Despite its deep regional expertise and the region’s high expectations, it has failed to articulate a comprehensive regional strategy or treat the Indo-Pacific as its decisive priority. 2. The Biden administration’s focus on bringing normalcy back to US regional policy has restored the status quo, but not advanced its standing in the Indo-Pacific. 3. The Biden administration’s approach to competition with China has focused on the domestic and global arenas, rather than on competing for influence within the Indo-Pacific. 4. The Biden administration’s focus on long-term systems competition with China overlooks the urgency of near-term competition in the Indo-Pacific. 5. The Biden administration has placed strategic competition with China at the top of its foreign and security policy agenda. It has sought to balance US-China rivalry with opportunities for cooperation and efforts to stabilise the regional order. 6. The Biden administration views its Indo-Pacific allies as regional and international “force multipliers.” It has largely trained these alliances on global order issues, with few new initiatives at the regional level and insufficient focus on empowering allies to meet their own security needs. 7. The Biden administration sees the United States as being in a “systems competition” between democracy and autocracy. By making ideological competition with China an organising principle for US foreign policy, Washington risks undermining its attractiveness as a partner for politically diverse Indo-Pacific countries. 8. The Biden administration cannot compete against China effectively in the Indo-Pacific without prioritising engagement with Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. It has recognised the need to do more in Southeast Asia, but its success may be limited by its approach to competition with China and lack of an economic strategy. 9. The Biden administration, like its predecessors, lacks an economic strategy for the Indo-Pacific region. This major weakness in regional policy is driven by US protectionist trade preferences at home. Proposed initiatives on digital trade and infrastructure cannot compensate for the absence of a comprehensive trade-based economic approach. 10. The Biden administration views China as a predominantly long-term military challenge. Its efforts to minimise spending on US forward posture in the region suggest it may be less committed to a strategy of deterrence by denial to prevent Chinese aggression. Recommendations for the Biden administration To compete for influence in the Indo-Pacific, the Biden administration should: 1. Clearly identify the Indo-Pacific region as its foreign and defence policy priority and marshal resources accordingly. 2. Articulate clear goals for its relationship with China and its strategic position in the Indo-Pacific region. 3. Avoid emphasising ideological competition with China and instead focus on maximising its influence by responding to regional needs. 4. Signal its commitment to a strategy of deterrence by denial to prevent Chinese aggression and bolster its investments in Western Pacific military posture to reinforce its credibility. 5. Empower its allies to assume greater responsibility for their own defence requirements by reducing legislative and political obstacles to allied self-strengthening. 6. Pay special attention to Southeast Asia as a region of strategic importance, given its geography, size and the fluidity of its alignment dynamics. 7. Clearly signal that it is committed to mutually beneficial economic engagement with the Indo-Pacific and adopt trade and investment strategies that reinforce its role as an indispensable resident economic power.

From Trump to Biden and Beyond
From Trump to Biden and Beyond

Author: Earl A. Carr Jr.

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-09-08

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 9811642974

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The last four years have seen significant damage in US-China relations that will take years to rebuild. Early signs within the Biden Administration indicate that an expeditious return to strong Sino-US ties is premature at best. To fully address these challenges and regain credibility both at home and abroad, the Biden team will need to recalibrate a new set of values, objectives, and thinking in redefining the most important bilateral relationship in the world. This edited book volume seeks to reimagine US-China relations, provide innovative policy analysis, and utilizes a truly multidisciplinary approach coupled with both first and second-hand quantitative data, infographics, geopolitical analysis, and perspectives from leading experts. More importantly, this book project provides a nuanced perspective highlighting the central issues that will define America and China both now and well into the future. Whether you are a policy-maker, business professional, academic, established practitioner, or a casual observer, this impressive volume provides exceptional insight on issues like technology, trade, cross-Strait relations, security & alliances in East Asia, geopolitics, climate change, and much more.

Rivalry and Response
Rivalry and Response

Author: Jonathan R. Stromseth

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2021-02-16

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 081573915X

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" Southeast Asia has become a hotbed of strategic rivalry between China and theUnited States. China is asserting its influence in the region through economic statecraft and far-reaching efforts to secure its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, while the United States has promoted a Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy that explicitly challenges China's expanding influence—warning other countries that Beijing is practicing predatory economics and advancing governance concepts associated with rising authoritarianism in the region. In this timely volume, leading experts from Southeast Asia, Australia, and the United States assess these great power dynamics by examining the strategic landscape, domestic governance trends, and economic challenges in Southeast Asia, with the latter focusing especially on infrastructure. Among other findings, the authors express concern that U.S. policy has become too concentrated on defense and security, to the detriment of diplomacy and development, allowing China to fill the soft power vacuum and capture the narrative through its signature Belt and Road Initiative. The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the policy challenges for Washington as China recovers faster from the outbreak, reinforcing its already advantaged economic position and advancing its strategicgoals as a result. As the Biden administration begins to formulate its strategy for the region, it would do well to consider these findings and the related policy recommendations that appear in this volume. Much is at stake for U.S. foreign policy and American interests. Southeast Asia includes two U.S. allies—Thailand and the Philippines—important security partners like Singapore, and key emerging partners such as Vietnam and Indonesia. Almost 42,000 U.S. companies export to the 10 countries that comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), supporting about 600,000 jobs in the United States, but America's economic standing is increasingly at risk. "

The Asian 21st Century
The Asian 21st Century

Author: Kishore Mahbubani

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 9811668116

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This open access book consists of essays written by Kishore Mahbubani to explore the challenges and dilemmas faced by the West and Asia in an increasingly interdependent world village and intensifying geopolitical competition. The contents cover four parts: Part One The End of the Era of Western Domination. The major strategic error that the West is now making is to refuse to accept this reality. The West needs to learn how to act strategically in a world where they are no longer the number 1. Part Two The Return of Asia. From the years 1 to 1820, the largest economies in the world were Asian. After 1820 and the rise of the West, however, great Asian civilizations like China and India were dominated and humiliated. The twenty-first century will see the return of Asia to the center of the world stage. Part Three The Peaceful Rise of China. The shift in the balance of power to the East has been most pronounced in the rise of China. While this rise has been peaceful, many in the West have responded with considerable concern over the influence China will have on the world order. Part Four Globalization, Multilateralism and Cooperation. Many of the world's pressing issues, such as COVID-19 and climate change, are global issues and will require global cooperation to deal with. In short, human beings now live in a global village. States must work with each other, and we need a world order that enables and facilitates cooperation in our global village.

Pakistan Under Siege
Pakistan Under Siege

Author: Madiha Afzal

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2018-01-02

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 0815729464

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Over the last fifteen years, Pakistan has come to be defined exclusively in terms of its struggle with terror. But are ordinary Pakistanis extremists? And what explains how Pakistanis think? Much of the current work on extremism in Pakistan tends to study extremist trends in the country from a detached position—a top-down security perspective, that renders a one-dimensional picture of what is at its heart a complex, richly textured country of 200 million people. In this book, using rigorous analysis of survey data, in-depth interviews in schools and universities in Pakistan, historical narrative reporting, and her own intuitive understanding of the country, Madiha Afzal gives the full picture of Pakistan’s relationship with extremism. The author lays out Pakistanis’ own views on terrorist groups, on jihad, on religious minorities and non-Muslims, on America, and on their place in the world. The views are not radical at first glance, but are riddled with conspiracy theories. Afzal explains how the two pillars that define the Pakistani state—Islam and a paranoia about India—have led to a regressive form of Islamization in Pakistan’s narratives, laws, and curricula. These, in turn, have shaped its citizens’ attitudes. Afzal traces this outlook to Pakistan’s unique and tortured birth. She examines the rhetoric and the strategic actions of three actors in Pakistani politics—the military, the civilian governments, and the Islamist parties—and their relationships with militant groups. She shows how regressive Pakistani laws instituted in the 1980s worsened citizen attitudes and led to vigilante and mob violence. The author also explains that the educational regime has become a vital element in shaping citizens’ thinking. How many years one attends school, whether the school is public, private, or a madrassa, and what curricula is followed all affect Pakistanis’ attitudes about terrorism and the rest of the world. In the end, Afzal suggests how this beleaguered nation—one with seemingly insurmountable problems in governance and education—can change course.

India and Nuclear Asia
India and Nuclear Asia

Author: Yogesh Joshi

Publisher: Georgetown University Press

Published: 2018-11-01

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1626166188

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India's nuclear profile, doctrine, and practices have evolved rapidly since the country’s nuclear breakout in 1998. However, the outside world's understanding of India's doctrinal debates, forward-looking strategy, and technical developments are still two decades behind the present. India and Nuclear Asia will fill that gap in our knowledge by focusing on the post-1998 evolution of Indian nuclear thought, its arsenal, the triangular rivalry with Pakistan and China, and New Delhi's nonproliferation policy approaches. Yogesh Joshi and Frank O'Donnell show how India's nuclear trajectory has evolved in response to domestic, regional, and global drivers. The authors argue that emerging trends in all three states are elevating risks of regional inadvertent and accidental escalation. These include the forthcoming launch of naval nuclear forces within an environment of contested maritime boundaries; the growing employment of dual-use delivery vehicles; and the emerging preferences of all three states to employ missiles early in a conflict. These dangers are amplified by the near-absence of substantive nuclear dialogue between these states, and the growing ambiguity of regional strategic intentions. Based on primary-source research and interviews, this book will be important reading for scholars and students of nuclear deterrence and India's international relations, as well as for military, defense contractor, and policy audiences both within and outside South Asia.

Avoiding the ‘Thucydides Trap’
Avoiding the ‘Thucydides Trap’

Author: Dong Wang

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-12-29

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1351206656

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As the relationship between China and the United States becomes increasingly complex and interdependent, leaders in Beijing and Washington are struggling to establish a solid common foundation on which to expand and deepen bilateral relations. In order to examine the challenges facing U.S.-China relations, the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) and the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (iGCU) at Peking University brought together a group of leading experts from China and the United States in Beijing and Honolulu to develop a conceptual foundation for U.S.-China relations into the future, tackling the issues in innovative ways under the banner of U.S.-China Relations in Strategic Domains. The resulting chapters assess U.S.-China relations in the maritime and nuclear sectors as well as in cyberspace and space and through the lens of P2P and mil-to-mil exchanges. Scholars and students in political science and international relations are thus presented with a diagnosis and prognosis of the relations between the two superpowers.