INTR3006 The Rise of the Indo-Pacific

2020

4.5

1 x 2-hour seminar weekly

INTR3022 has been successfully completed

Associated majors: International Relations

The topic offers a snapshot of economic, political and military trends in Asia since 2010. Three related dynamics are explored; first, the extent to which a Sino-centric regional order is emerging in Asia, and whether such an order is welcomed or resisted by China’s neighbours; secondly, the evolution of different visions of Asian regionalism, one ‘East Asian’ in nature the other ‘Asia Pacific’; and, thirdly, how the dynamic political and economic interactions between globalisation and regionalism in Asia in the 21st century give rise to the idea of the Indo-Pacific. The topic highlights Australia’s role in redefining security and economic pursuits in terms of the Indo-Pacific.

The aim of this topic is to introduce students to the broad political economy of East Asia over the past 25 years, focussing on the 'rise and decline' of the Japanese economic sphere, the impact of the Asian Economic Crisis of 1997/87 and the nature of the recovery, the subsequent emergence of a 'Sino-centric' regional economic order and the role that an 'increasingly present India' is playing. The Topic also traces the evoluiton and role of political regionalism in East Asia, its relationship with a broader Asia Pacific vision and likely future trends.

Students should have an appreciation of:

• the respective roles played by Japan, China and increasingly India in shaping the political economy of East Asia since the mid-1980s
• key debates over the growing importance of Chinese business in East Asia
• the importance of the Asian Economic Crisis of 1997/98
• key debates over the relative importance of political regionalism in East Asia
• the key regional groupings, their evolution and how they relate with each other