The Asia Pacific region is witnessing one of the greatest build-up of arms in modern history. Although it is not on the scale of the Cold War, the military build-up is one of the clearest indicators of a lack of confidence of the nations of the Asia Pacific in the future stability of the region. It recognises that there is not a settled security environment in the Asia Pacific.

This lack of confidence not only stems from the risk of potential conflict between the two great nations in the region, China and the United States. Within Asia, old enmities, particularly...

In 1945, the undoubted victor of World War Two in the Asia Pacific was the United States. Not only had the United States utterly defeated Japan, it also occupied Japan over the next six years. These successes have underscored the influence of the United States in both Asia and the Pacific over the last 70 years. However, U.S. power in the region has been far from absolute.

In China, the Communist Party had come out of the Second World War as the strongest faction in the country. Within four years the Communist Party ruled the Chinese nation. The entry of...

The United States unquestionably has the most powerful military forces in the Asia Pacific. The importance of this position is exemplified by the fact that the United States is a Pacific nation as much as it is an Atlantic nation. As a result, the United States has a different understanding of Asia than Europe does. Even though Europe shares the same continental landmass as Asia, it is not connected to East Asia and Southeast Asia in the same way as the United States is. This is reinforced by the fact that the United States has sovereign territory stretching across the...

The Asian region covers an immense swath of the world, from the western shores of the Indian Ocean to the Kuril Islands off Siberia. It can be divided into three strategic areas: North East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Each of these areas has land borders with China, which encompasses much of the vast hinterland of Asia.

Over the course of centuries, and in more recent times, China has been in conflict with nations from each of these areas. However, it would be wrong to consider that the vast size of China means that China has been an...

The rise of China will require the states of the Asia Pacific to have a better understanding of the central interests of each state within the region. In particular, there needs to be a recognition that the rise of China will result in China playing a greater role in security of the region. Undoubtedly, this means both understanding and accommodating at least some of China’s key interests.

An essential consideration in this equation is the viability of existing security arrangements. This question largely turns on the adaptability of existing relationships. It is unlikely that future adjustments will involve a fundamental...

China’s economic and security interests are not limited to its own immediate domain. It also seeks to be regarded as an important and influential nation throughout the world. But China’s interests in the Asia Pacific region run deeper. Not only will China’s interests in the Asia Pacific have to be respected, they will have to be fully integrated into the institutional frameworks that are being developed in the region. This is not a passive expectation on the part of China. At every opportunity, China will demand to be a principal party in shaping the institutional framework that is progressively developing...