External Powers and Southeast Asia in an era of US–China Strategic Competition

Laura Southgate, Nicholas Khoo

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781529240849
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Asian Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book provides a comprehensive assessment of Beijing and Washington's Southeast Asia policy, and moves beyond the superpower dyad to examine how multiple external actors — including the EU, UK, Japan, India, and Australia — are seeking to project power into the region.

Vital for scholars and students of international relations, security studies, and Asian politics, it offers a path to understanding one of the world's most strategically important regions in an era of great power and strategic competition.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Abbreviations
• Notes on Contributors
• 1 Introduction: Southeast Asia in an Era of US–China Strategic Competition
• 2 China and Southeast Asia in an Era of Post-Cold War US–China Rivalry
• 3 From Sentimental Imperialists to Gritty Power Broker: The United States in Postwar and Post-Colonial Southeast Asia
• 4 Offering a Strategic Alternative: Japan’s Southeast Asia Policy in an Era of US–China Rivalry
• 5 Looking and Acting East: India’s Power Projection in Southeast Asia
• 6 Australia and Southeast Asia: Security Interdependence
• 7 Tilting to the Indo-Pacific: United Kingdom’s Re-Engagement of Southeast Asia
• 8 The Limits of Soft Power: EU Normative Power in Southeast Asia
• 9 Conclusion: Southeast Asia at a Crossroads
• Index