Asian Security and the Rise of China: International Relations in an Age of Volatility - Hardcover

Jones, David Martin; Khoo, Nicholas; Smith, M. L.R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1781004617 ISBN 13: 9781781004616

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2013

Synopsis

East Asia is without question a region of huge economic, political, and security significance. Asian Security and the Rise of China offers a comprehensive overview and assessment of the international politics of the Asia-Pacific since the end of the Cold War, seeking to address the overarching question of how we can most convincingly explain the central dynamics of Asia's international relations. Via a realist perspective on the dynamics and frictions associated with accommodating the rise of powerful states, this timely book addresses the core issue in contemporary Asian politics: the rise of China. The contributors expertly evaluate China's rise and the impact it has had on the dynamics of regional relations in North East and South East Asia. It demonstrates that China's economic development and its regional and international ambition increasingly conflicts with the existing consensus based regional arrangements like the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asian Summit mechanism. As a consequence, smaller states in the region increasingly resort to hedging and balancing strategies in an attempt to mitigate Chinese hegemony. This leaves the region in the grip of a complex and potentially destabilizing security dilemma. The book offers a compelling analysis of the problem that China presents for its region that will enlighten undergraduate students of regional political studies and international relations. Postgraduate and Masters students on courses addressing East and South East Asia will also find plenty of information in this invaluable book.

About this title

Review:

Khoo, Jones, and Smith have pulled off a remarkable balancing act, crafting a well-grounded and multifaceted survey of China s rise in the context of Asian security. In a field which is often marked more by scholarly effervescence than substance, the authors provide a refreshingly detailed portrait of the last two decades, and fair-mindedly point out evidence which might support both extremes of the debates they challenge with their own third way . --Frank Scott Douglas, US Naval War College, US

Congratulations to the authors for a clearly argued and comprehensive treatment of China s post-Cold War rise and what it means for existing and future dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region. Effectively employing realist theory in a fair-minded treatment of regional developments, the volume shows how and why power realities are more important than non-material factors in determining the region s trajectory and thereby demonstrates that China s ascendance in Asia remains complicated and conflicted. --Robert Sutter, George Washington University, US

From the Author:

David Martin Jones, Honorary Reader, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia and Visiting Professor, War Studies Department, King's College, London, UK, Nicholas Khoo, Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of Otago, New Zealand and M.L.R. Smith, Professor of Strategic Theory, Department of War Studies, King’s College, London, UK

About this edition

• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1781004617
• ISBN 13: 9781781004616
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304