This book — the latest in our series East Asian Security — was inspired by the Japan–Taiwan Security Dialogue, held by the Taiwan Center for Security Studies, National Chengchi University, and Osaka-based Momoyama Gakuin University. For years, China's political-economic development continued on a trajectory that Western leaders hoped would mirror that of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, and so many others before them: political liberalization followed economic development. Alas, China chose a different path: one driven by a revanchist mindset and a desire to dismantle the current unipolar order, removing the US from the position of global hegemon — starting with the Indo-Pacific region.Now, as the world holds its breath while an assertive China policy under a new, second Trump administration takes shape, this slow structural shift of geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region threatens to accelerate. The book examines this geopolitical shift from a variety of perspectives, bringing together research and analysis from a number of experts in the field from several different nations and disciplines. It is organized according to three broad themes: the increasing internationalization of Indo-Pacific security, the region's shifting alliance structures, and the growing competition over hegemony.
