Elena Atanassova-Cornelis is Professor of International Politics of the Asia-Pacific at the University of Antwerp and the Université Catholique de Louvain, both in Belgium. She is also a nonresident research fellow at the International Center for Defence and Security in Tallinn, Estonia. Her research interests and expertise include international relations, security, and strategic studies, with a focus on Asia and the Indo-Pacific region, as well as Asia-Europe relations.Yoichiro Sato is Professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan. He has published more than ten books, including The US-Japan Security Alliance (coedited with Takashi Inoguchi and G. John Ikenberry, 2011), Regional Institutions, Geopolitics, and Economics in the Asia-Pacific (coedited with Steve Rothman and Utpal Vyas, 2017), and Re-Rising Japan (co-edited with Hidekazu Sakai, 2017). His commentaries have appeared in various global media, including Time, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, Agence Presse Francais, and Nikkei Asian Review.Tom Sauer is Professor of International Politics and spokesman for the Research Group of International Politics in the Department of Politics at Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium. He is an expert on international security, particularly on nuclear arms control. Sauer is a former research fellow at the BCSIA at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (US). He received the Rotary International Alumni Global Service Award in 2019.

• Introduction 1. Alliances, Partnerships, and Alignments: Concepts and Definitions 2. The West’s Collective Defense Institutions in Asia and Europe: A Geopolitical Perspective 3. Europe and Geopolitical Spillover Effects from the Asia-Pacific 4. A Concerned Believer: Poland and the credibility of U.S. security guarantees 5. Same but Different: NATO after its Nordic enlargement 6. Concerts and Collective Security: A More Stable Security Order Than Balance of Power 7. U.S. Grand Strategies from the Obama to the Biden Administrations: Their Impact on American Alliances and Alignments in the Indo-Pacific Region 8. Japan-US alliance “Plus”: Evolving Perspectives on Alignment Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific 9. International Alliances: Chinese Views and Responses 10.Assessing Alternative Alignments: China’s Reception of the Quad

Elena Atanassova-Cornelis is Professor of International Politics of the Asia-Pacific at the University of Antwerp and the Université Catholique de Louvain, both in Belgium. She is also a nonresident research fellow at the International Center for Defence and Security in Tallinn, Estonia. Her research interests and expertise include international relations, security, and strategic studies, with a focus on Asia and the Indo-Pacific region, as well as Asia-Europe relations.Yoichiro Sato is Professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan. He has published more than ten books, including The US-Japan Security Alliance (coedited with Takashi Inoguchi and G. John Ikenberry, 2011), Regional Institutions, Geopolitics, and Economics in the Asia-Pacific (coedited with Steve Rothman and Utpal Vyas, 2017), and Re-Rising Japan (co-edited with Hidekazu Sakai, 2017). His commentaries have appeared in various global media, including Time, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, Agence Presse Francais, and Nikkei Asian Review.Tom Sauer is Professor of International Politics and spokesman for the Research Group of International Politics in the Department of Politics at Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium. He is an expert on international security, particularly on nuclear arms control. Sauer is a former research fellow at the BCSIA at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (US). He received the Rotary International Alumni Global Service Award in 2019.

• Introduction 1. Alliances, Partnerships, and Alignments: Concepts and Definitions 2. The West’s Collective Defense Institutions in Asia and Europe: A Geopolitical Perspective 3. Europe and Geopolitical Spillover Effects from the Asia-Pacific 4. A Concerned Believer: Poland and the credibility of U.S. security guarantees 5. Same but Different: NATO after its Nordic enlargement 6. Concerts and Collective Security: A More Stable Security Order Than Balance of Power 7. U.S. Grand Strategies from the Obama to the Biden Administrations: Their Impact on American Alliances and Alignments in the Indo-Pacific Region 8. Japan-US alliance “Plus”: Evolving Perspectives on Alignment Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific 9. International Alliances: Chinese Views and Responses 10.Assessing Alternative Alignments: China’s Reception of the Quad

Elena Atanassova-Cornelis is Professor of International Politics of the Asia-Pacific at the University of Antwerp and the Université Catholique de Louvain, both in Belgium. She is also a nonresident research fellow at the International Center for Defence and Security in Tallinn, Estonia. Her research interests and expertise include international relations, security, and strategic studies, with a focus on Asia and the Indo-Pacific region, as well as Asia-Europe relations.Yoichiro Sato is Professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan. He has published more than ten books, including The US-Japan Security Alliance (coedited with Takashi Inoguchi and G. John Ikenberry, 2011), Regional Institutions, Geopolitics, and Economics in the Asia-Pacific (coedited with Steve Rothman and Utpal Vyas, 2017), and Re-Rising Japan (co-edited with Hidekazu Sakai, 2017). His commentaries have appeared in various global media, including Time, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, Agence Presse Francais, and Nikkei Asian Review.Tom Sauer is Professor of International Politics and spokesman for the Research Group of International Politics in the Department of Politics at Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium. He is an expert on international security, particularly on nuclear arms control. Sauer is a former research fellow at the BCSIA at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (US). He received the Rotary International Alumni Global Service Award in 2019.

• Introduction 1. Alliances, Partnerships, and Alignments: Concepts and Definitions 2. The West’s Collective Defense Institutions in Asia and Europe: A Geopolitical Perspective 3. Europe and Geopolitical Spillover Effects from the Asia-Pacific 4. A Concerned Believer: Poland and the credibility of U.S. security guarantees 5. Same but Different: NATO after its Nordic enlargement 6. Concerts and Collective Security: A More Stable Security Order Than Balance of Power 7. U.S. Grand Strategies from the Obama to the Biden Administrations: Their Impact on American Alliances and Alignments in the Indo-Pacific Region 8. Japan-US alliance “Plus”: Evolving Perspectives on Alignment Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific 9. International Alliances: Chinese Views and Responses 10.Assessing Alternative Alignments: China’s Reception of the Quad