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Taiwan's position looks increasingly precarious, and tensions threaten to grow into a major strategic crisis. Chinese President Xi Jinping has made reunification with Taiwan a central pillar of his vision for China, and has ramped up diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan. Its inhabitants are increasingly estranged from the mainland, and Tsai Ing-wen's administration refuses to conduct relations with China on Beijing's terms. Taiwan could take on renewed strategic significance amid the backdrop of the deepening rivalry between China and the United States, and find itself at the centre of a Cold War-style superpower confrontation. While Washington's support and military power has historically guaranteed Taiwan's security, this is no longer a certainty. This Adelphi book argues that China's military modernisation has changed the cross-strait military balance, and the ability of the US to prevail in a conflict over Taiwan may have evaporated by 2030. As China feels increasingly empowered to retake Taiwan, there is significant potential for escalation, particularly given the ambiguity of Beijing's red lines' on Taiwan. Neither Beijing, Taipei nor Washington want such a conflict, but each is challenging the uneasy status quo. Taylor calls for the introduction of a narrower set of formal crisis-management mechanisms designed to navigate a major Taiwan crisis.

Economic sanctions are becoming increasingly central to shaping strategic outcomes in the twenty-first century. They afford great powers a means by which to seek to influence the behaviour of states, to demonstrate international leadership and to express common values for the benefit of the international community at large. Closer to home, they can also offer a 'middle way' for governments that apply them, satisfying moderates and hardliners alike. For some great powers in the multipolar world order, however, they pose a threat to trading relationships. They may also serve as a prelude to mili

The sanctions debate -- Sanctions and US foreign policy -- The Bill Clinton years -- The George W. Bush years -- Conclusions and recommendations

"This Adelphi focuses on the different sanctions strategies of the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the EU, with regard to the unfolding nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea. It examines how these measures, designed to marginalise the regimes in both countries and restrict their ability to develop nuclear weapons, have also influenced the sanctioning states' international partners."--Page 4 of cover

Covers US sanctions policy in the Asia-Pacific. Using the Bill Clinton and George W Bush presidencies as a basis for comparison, this book examines nine prominent episodes involving the US use of sanctions toward countries in this economically and strategically vital part of the world.

This book considers the changing nature of Australia?s identity and role in the Asia-Pacific, and the forces behind these developments, with particular attention towards security alignments and alliance relationships.

Australia is among the most prominent advocates of the Indo‐Pacific concept that increasingly serves as a new point of convergence between the United States and its Asian allies and partners. In contrast to this upgraded Indo‐Pacific orientation, however, a vigorous debate is playing out in Australia regarding the merits of this concept and its supporting pillars, such as the idea of a rules‐based international order and the resuscitated Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or Quad). This article traces the competing perspectives in that debate. While not anticipating any imminent shift in Canberra's official support for the Indo‐Pacific concept, the argument is advanced here that Australia's Indo‐Pacific debate requires careful monitoring. Precisely because Canberra's Indo‐Pacific advocacy has been so prominent, any deviation from this posture could have negative ramifications for the Indo‐Pacific concept's broader pervasiveness and sustainability, particularly among America's Southeast Asian allies and partners who are now only beginning to embrace it.