The Role of Threat Perceptions in International Relations

Analysing China’s Rise in the Indo-Pacific

Vindu Mai Chotani

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2025
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040403822
• Subtopic: Geopolitics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

With China's rise in the Indo-Pacific, this book systematically analyses and explores the complex reality of questions regarding threat perception—why and when do states perceive or do not perceive China as a threat, and what influences or drives these perceptions? How have their perceptions evolved and changed over time? To provide deeper insight, it moves beyond traditional Realist explanations of the "China threat". Additionally, by engaging in a diverse theoretical discussion, it studies the various perspectives of key Indo-Pacific players: India, Japan, China, the United States, Australia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and South Korea.

Mapping the formation and changing perceptions of threat regarding China's rise, this book would be essential reading for scholars, students, and researchers of international relations studying the Indo-Pacific region, threat perception, global politics, geopolitics, foreign policy, Chinese studies, middle powers, and strategic studies. It will also be a useful handy reference for foreign policy experts, government bureaucrats, and think tanks.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Images Behind the “China Threat” by the United States: The Underlying Effect of Images in Threat Perceptions and Strategic Verbal Expressions
• 3 Avoiding the Resonance of Internal and External Threats: China’s Fortification of the Border in Tibet
• 4 Perceptions and Misperceptions: India’s Maritime Threat Assessment of China in the Indian Ocean Region
• 5 The End of Western Superiority: Japan’s Threat Perceptions During and After the Cold War
• 6 Japan’s and India’s Threat Perceptions of China in the Indo-Pacific: A Discourse Analysis on the Formation of a Collective Identity
• 7 Strategic Narratives of the Moon and Yoon Administrations: What Shapes South Korea’s Approach to China
• 8 Strategic Culture and Threat Perception: ASEAN’s Response to Great Power Rivalry in Indo-Pacific
• 9 Unpacking Australia’s “China Threat” Discourse: A Constructivist Approach
• 10 Conclusion
• Index