Rivalry and Response

Assessing Great Power Dynamics in Southeast Asia

Jonathan R. Stromseth

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Year: 2021
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780815742845
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Asian Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Southeast Asia has become a hotbed of strategic rivalry between China and theUnited States. China is asserting its influence in the region through economic statecraft and far-reaching efforts to secure its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, while the United States has promoted a Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy that explicitly challenges China's expanding influence—warning other countries that Beijing is practicing predatory economics and advancing governance concepts associated with rising authoritarianism in the region.
In this timely volume, leading experts from Southeast Asia, Australia, and the United States assess these great power dynamics by examining the strategic landscape, domestic governance trends, and economic challenges in Southeast Asia, with the latter focusing especially on infrastructure. Among other findings, the authors express concern that U.S. policy has become too concentrated on defense and security, to the detriment of diplomacy and development, allowing China to fill the soft power vacuum and capture the narrative through its signature Belt and Road Initiative. The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased the policy challenges for Washington as China recovers faster from the outbreak, reinforcing its already advantaged economic position and advancing its strategicgoals as a result.
As the Biden administration begins to formulate its strategy for the region, it would do well to consider these findings and the related policy recommendations that appear in this volume. Much is at stake for U.S. foreign policy and American interests. Southeast Asia includes two U.S. allies—Thailand and the Philippines—important security partners like Singapore, and key emerging partners such as Vietnam and Indonesia. Almost 42,000 U.S. companies export to the 10 countries that comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), supporting about 600,000 jobs in the United States, but America's economic standing is increasingly at risk.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Information
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Navigating Great Power Competition in Southeast Asia
• The U.S. "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" Concept: Continuity and Change
• At a Strategic Crossroads: ASEAN Centrality amid Sino-American Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific
• The Case for an Australian Step-Up in Southeast Asia
• China and the West Competing Over Infrastructure in Southeast Asia
• Mobilizing the Indo-Pacific Infrastructure Response to China's Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia
• ASEAN Economic Prospects amid Emerging Turbulence: Development Challenges and Implications for Reform
• Historical Tensions and Contemporary Governance Challenges in Southeast Asia: The Case of Indonesia
• Decoupling Governance and Democracy: The Challenge of Authoritarian Development in Southeast Asia
• Contributors
• Chronology of the Region: October 2018-November 2020
• Trilateral Dialogue Participants and Observers
• Index
• Back Cover