Tensions over Taiwan threaten to grow into a strategic crisis, amid the background of a deteriorating relationship between China and the United States - Brendan Taylor's new Adelphi book explores the potential triggers for a conflict over Taiwan and calls for the development of robust crisis-management mechanisms to avoid escalation.
The book explores a precarious geopolitical landscape in Asia, marked by China's rapid ascent and North Korea's aggressive posturing under Kim Jong-un. It highlights Japan's shift towards militarization and the unprecedented diplomatic moves by the Trump administration, including engagement with Taiwan and heightened tensions over nuclear threats. With the doomsday clock ticking closer to midnight, the narrative underscores the looming potential for global catastrophe amid these escalating conflicts and power shifts.
Focusing on US sanctions policy in the Asia-Pacific, the book analyzes nine significant instances during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It offers a thorough comparison of how sanctions were applied, highlighting their impact on countries in this crucial region. The examination provides insights into the strategic and economic implications of these policies, making it a vital resource for understanding US foreign relations in Asia.
This book considers the changing nature of Australia’s identity and role in the Asia-Pacific, and the forces behind these developments, with particular attention towards security alignments and alliance relationships.
Intensifying geopolitical rivalries, rising defence spending and proliferation of the latest military technology in Asia, and their interactions across Asia as a whole, 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 their 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. Societies which 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.