Dr Stephen Westcott1, Dr Amrita Jash1
1Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, Canberra, Australia
Biography:
Dr. Amrita Jash is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. She is also the Ph.D. Co-ordinator at the Department as well as the Co-coordinator of the Centre for Indo-Pacific Studies, MAHE. Her research primarily focuses on Chinese foreign policy and military affairs.
Dr Stephen Westcott is the book review editor for the Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs. Currently he works for the Australian Government but previously has worked for MAHE and Murdoch University. His research primarily focuses on South Asian security issues and interstate borders.
Abstract:
When the Indo-Pacific as a geopolitical region was first conceived of in its current manifestation, the late-2000s, it was not uncontested in academic circles. However, the scholarly and policy debates conducted in the late-2000s and early-2010s over the existence of the Indo-Pacific have largely been resolved with the widespread acceptance of the regional construct by states in the region. Furthermore, the odd detractor notwithstanding, most states and several extra-regional actors have come to embrace the region as a reality. Yet, whilst most of academic discussion to date has focused on the emergence of the region and how states have interacted within it, events in the Indo-Pacific have not stayed still. The region not only encompasses some of the busiest trade lanes and dynamic interconnected economies in the world, it is also beset by some of the most complex and enduring political and security challenges. Several of the world’s most volatile flashpoints exist within the Indo-Pacific, whether it be the increasingly confrontational relationship between China and the USA, concerns over ‘rogue’ states or the many volatile border disputes in the region. Naturally, the states of the Indo-Pacific have not been idle, with many multilateral, minilateral and unilateral responses formed to address to the problems within the region. This paper is an early effort to explore the both how the challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region and the responses from stakeholder states have shaped the institutionalisation of the region.