This book explores China’s use of faits accomplis in its periphery, and offers the first formal model for the use of faits accomplis by rising powers. With growing attention to great power competition and conflict in the gray zone between war and peace, this book explains China’s use of faits accomplis to revise the maritime status quo in the South and East China Seas. Using formal modelling and case study analysis, the book argues that while power shifts provide rising states with opportunities to impose faits accomplis to revise the status quo, the use of faits accomplis also increase the likelihood of war with the dominant state(s). The book surveys existing understandings of how power shifts incentivize interstate competition in general and in the case of Sino-American competition in particular, and brings existing theory and novel modelling to explain China’s differing strategies in the South and East China Seas in the first two decades of the 21st century. The book concludes by using the lessons from these cases to assess the strategic options available to both states and conditions that make a peaceful resolution more likely. This book will be of much interest to students of Chinese politics, Asian security studies and International Relations.

"This book explores China's use of faits accomplis in its periphery, and offers the first formal model for the use of faits accomplis by rising powers. With growing attention on great power competition and conflict in the gray zone between war and peace, this book explains China's use of faits accomplis to revise the maritime status quo in South and East China Seas. Using formal modelling and case study analysis, the book argues that while power shifts provide rising states with opportunities to impose faits accomplis to revise the status quo, the use of faits accomplis also increase the likelihood of war with the dominant state(s). The book surveys existing understandings of how power shifts incentivize interstate competition in general and in the case of Sino-American competition in particular, and brings existing theory and novel modelling to explain China's differing strategies in the South and East China Seas in the first two decades of the 21st century. The book concludes by using the lessons from these cases to assess the strategic options available to both states and conditions that make a peaceful resolution more likely. This book will be of much interest to students of Chinese politics, Asian security studies and International Relations"--

This volume re-examines the notion of the East Asian peace, arguing that it requires updating for the current and near-future context of US-Chinese rivalry. The “East Asian peace” refers to the remarkable change in conflict levels in eastern Eurasia over the past 80 years or even the past 130 years or so. Prior to the late 1970s, East Asia was regarded as the most conflictual region on the planet. Although insurgencies have continued in places such as Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines, after the 1980s East and Southeast Asia became one of the world’s least conflictual regions. Geopolitics and economic development worked hand in hand to reduce conflict in the region and, in this respect, the East Asian peace has been a confluential peace. The general problem with a confluential peace is that the factors that shape it evolve over time, and the specific circumstances in question seem to be evolving in a different direction, with East Asia shaping up to be the most central locale of the contest between US and Chinese hegemony, both regionally and perhaps globally. This book argues that the idea of the East Asian peace now requires adjustment to the current and near-future context. The more general arguments presented here focus on alternative interpretations of how regional peace and order should be interpreted, while the more specific arguments involve interpretations of Chinese and other countries’ behavior in the context of the heightened rivalry between China and the United States. This book will be of much interest to students of East Asian politics, peace studies, foreign policy, and international relations.

This book analyzes when, how, why, and to what effect China has used its armed forces in recent decades to coerce other actors in the international system. Over the past 20 years, China’s international status as a “great power” has become undeniable. China’s “peaceful rise” has included substantial investments in military modernization and an increasingly assertive regional posture. While China has not waged war since 1979, it has frequently resorted to what the U.S. State Department has referred to as “gangster tactics” – threats, intimidation, and armed confrontation – to advance its strategic aims. This volume illuminates the ways in which China has employed its military and paramilitary tools to coerce other states, and examines the motivations and specific foreign policy objectives that China has pursued using force short of war. The study presents new analysis of an original dataset on coercive actions undertaken by China’s armed forces, taking into account the political objectives pursued and the environmental contexts in which these operations occurred. It also presents a series of expert case studies addressing the most consequential examples of China using force to coerce in recent decades. The volume contributes to a more historically informed, empirically based understanding of great power competition. This book will be of much interest to students of Chinese security and foreign policy, strategic studies, Asian politics and International Relations.

China and East Asia's Post-Crises Community: A Region in Flux, by Wei Liang and Faizullah Khilji, explores how an East Asian community is taking shape as a result of China's emergence as a global economic power and the shocks of the financial crises emanating from the globalized financial system. From a security oriented US-centric regional structure characterized as the hub and spokes system set up after the Second World War, this region is now more nearly an informal economic community, which increasingly appears to be China-centric. This book presents one of the first attempts to weave together different strands of the current discussion to develop a framework for understanding a rapidly evolving East Asia region.

This book examines the emerging maritime security scene in Southeast Asia. It considers highly topical implications for the region of possible strategic competition between China and India - the rising naval powers of Asia - with a possible naval "arms race" emerging between these countries both with naval force development and operations. As part of its "Look East" policy, India has deployed naval units to the Pacific Ocean for port visits and exercises both with East Asian navies and the US Navy, but India is also concerned about the possibility of the Chinese Navy operating in the Indian Ocean. Even as the US-India defence relationship continues to deepen, the US and China are struggling to build a closer links. China’s and India’s strategic interests overlap in this region both in maritime strategic competition or conflict – which might be played out in the Bay of Bengal, the Malacca and Singapore Straits and the South China Sea. The sea lines of communication (SLOCs) through Southeast Asian waters constitute vital "choke points" between the Indian and Pacific Oceans carrying essential energy supplies for China and other Northeast Asian countries. Any strategic competition between China and India has implications for other major maritime players in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, especially Australia, the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as the US. This book identifies possible cooperative and confidence-building measures that may contribute to enhanced relations between these two major powers and dampen down the risks associated with their strategic competition.

The Routledge Handbook of Great Power Competition is a comprehensive, pioneering, and interdisciplinary guide of this re-emerging field. Offering a team of cutting-edge researchers in the field, it advances an analytical framework of great power competition. It surveys the major theories (mainstream and critical), actors (state, quasi-state, and non-state), mechanisms (military, economic, and ideational influence), and domains (territorial and non-territorial) pertaining to contemporary great power competition. This Handbook is an essential text for scholars and students of international relations, security studies, global governance, and comparative politics. It will also appeal to global policy makers and practitioners who need to observe contemporary great power competition.

This book examines the state of China’s grand strategy in the 21st century, including political, military and economic factors. Over the past two decades, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has attained the second highest gross domestic product in the world, taken a leadership role in East Asian regional organisations and substantially improved its military capabilities. Each of these developments – and many others like them – have attracted attention from scholars, journalists and policymakers. Less frequently acknowledged – but perhaps of greater significance – is the impressive congruence of Beijing’s accomplishments. This book highlights how the PRC’s successes support one another and pave the way for future accomplishments, and how these successes seem to be achieved in an unusually coherent and purposeful way. As Beijing’s relations with the rest of the world continue to evolve, with events ranging from the ongoing global economic crisis to the turbulence in China’s own stock market which may bring the PRC’s government under pressure to re-order its priorities, this book assesses China’s grand strategy and long-term approach to national policy. It identifies the political, military and economic instruments it is likely to use, the key challenges which it will face, and explores the implications for the global community. This book will be of great interest to students of Chinese politics, foreign policy, strategic studies, international security and IR in general.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of North Korea’s nuclear strategies and of the decisions which explain its strategic motivations. The existence of two separate Koreas is an accepted outcome of the current international system. However, in today’s emerging multipolar order, the question of Korean legitimacy remains unresolved and South Korea finds itself surrounded by three nuclear powers— China, Russia, and, de facto, North Korea. This book traces North Korea’s nuclear quest across three major epochs: the Cold War, the post-Cold War, and post- September 11 periods. Through these lenses, the book reveals the underlying drivers of North Korea’s nuclear decisions and strategies, providing evidence that North Korea’s nuclear weapons are not only intended to guarantee the survival of the Kim regime but also hold the key for Pyongyang to resolve the lingering question over Korean legitimacy. The book provides evidence, through a longitudinal case study, that North Korea’s nuclear program provides a means to achieve full sovereign control of the Korean Peninsula by exploiting future opportunities in an increasingly multipolar international order. This book will be of interest to students in the fields of foreign policy, defense policy, nuclear proliferation, Korean Studies and International Relations.

Security and Conflict in East Asia provides a timely and comprehensive analysis of the sources and implications of conflict on the Korean peninsula and in the People’s Republic of China and Japan, the three biggest economies in the world. This analysis provides the building blocks for effective solutions to manage these tensions more effectively, and is a vital resource to those seeking a clearer understanding of conflict in the most pivotal region in the world. In the context of increasingly tense China-US strategic rivalry, the ever-present potential for conflict on the Korean peninsula and over Taiwan, the absence of effective regional institutions and regimes, the emerging arms race in the region, the rise in nationalism and the absence of crisis management mechanisms, there are many good reasons why the high potential exists for miscalculation and misperception sparking a regional conflict. Given the presence of nuclear-armed powers in East Asia, namely, China, North Korea and the USA, it is also possible that any regional conflict could escalate into a nuclear conflict involving the world’s three largest economies: the USA, China and Japan. The security of, and any conflict in, East Asia thus has tremendous implications for global security. The Handbook is divided into four parts. The introductory section includes chapters which set the context, explain the history of international relations in East Asia and examine the phenomenon of regional arms race. The second section is made up of a series of chapters focusing on China, examining China’s military modernization, its relationship with the USA and the various territorial disputes in which it has been involved. The third section focuses on Japan and North and South Korea, looking at the security challenges facing Japan and the Korean peninsula. A concluding section examines the future role of China and the USA in East Asia, as well as the prospects for managing security in the region. The contributing authors are all experts in their respective fields, and all share an abiding concern over developments in East Asia. Their contributions aim to assist in a better understanding of the issues, to suggest possible solutions, and draw attention to the need for diplomacy, confidence-building measures, crisis management mechanisms and other measures to prevent conflict. This volume will be of use to government institutions involved in foreign policy, intelligence and defence, reference libraries, universities, research institutes, and non-governmental organisations. It will also appeal to analysts, researchers, journalists, policy advisers, students, academics and the general reader. Scholarly analysis is yet to catch up and currently there are no other comprehensive works examining conflict in East Asia in the context of the current tensions.