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This handbook explores the significance of the Indo-Pacific in world politics. It shows how the re-emergence of the Indo-Pacific in international relations has fundamentally changed the approach to politics, economics and security.

The volume:
explores the themes related to trade, politics and security for better understanding of the Indo-Pacific and the repercussions of the region's emergence
studies different security and political issues in the region: military competition, maritime governance, strategic alliances and rivalries, and international conflicts
analyses various socio-economic dimensions of the Indo-Pacific, such as political systems, cultural and religious contexts, and trade and financial systems
examines the strategies of various states, such as the United States, Japan, India and China, and their approaches towards the Indo-Pacific
covers the role of middle powers and small states in detail

Interdisciplinary in approach and with essays from authors from around the world, this volume will be indispensable to scholars, researchers and students in the fields of international relations, politics and Asian studies.

Canada needs to take a bigger part in the Indo-Pacific's development and support for a rules-based order or risk getting locked out of the region's economic, diplomatic and security benefits. Although the Indo-Pacific region is an economic dynamo, it's also institutionally underdeveloped and the source of numerous traditional and non-traditional security challenges. Traditional challenges include North Korea's WMD program and potential conflicts between China and neighbouring nations. Non-traditional challenges include piracy, illegal fishing and climate change. Conflicts, especially at sea, could disrupt communications, trade and energy flows. Canadians know that much is at stake in Indo-Pacific region. A 2020 survey found that 83 per cent of Canadians believe that Canada should stand up to China when values like human rights and democracy are on the line. Opinions vary as to how Canadian engagement in the Indo-Pacific should look. Any such process should be clearly and meaningfully articulated to garner buy-in from Canadians. It should also be based on a realistic assessment of the capabilities and capacities Canada can bring to the region. Canada has already used existing institutions, such as military exercises among Indo-Pacific nations, to get involved in the area. Options include bringing together middle-power countries to promote multilateralism and non-military solutions to Indo-Pacific challenges. North Korean denuclearization, vaccine distribution and the digital economy offer possibilities to create a diplomatic consensus among like-minded countries. Outreach should also concentrate on issues directly affecting Canada and its allies, like forging coalitions to resist hostage diplomacy and economic coercion. At the same time, Canada must develop a constructive relationship with China to mitigate regionwide challenges such as climate change. Canada shares an interest with the U.S., Australia, Japan and other countries in ensuring that the Indo-Pacific develops in a free, open and rules-based manner. A more Machiavellian approach founded on the presumption that might is right would see Canada and similar middle-power countries become marginalized and more vulnerable to security challenges. It's time for Canada to speak up and become more involved in the Indo-Pacific to prevent that scenario.

War in the Indo-Pacific is a real possibility. Increased competition, a growing trust deficit between global and regional powers and potential miscalculations heighten the danger. There needs to be a more engaged Australian discussion on ...

Italy is the only 'Big Four' European country and 'Quint' North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member ostensibly uninterested in the world's geopolitical and geoeconomic epicentre. However, a number of developments contradict the assumption that Rome overlooks the importance of the Indo-Pacific. By analysing official policies, naval deployments, new partnerships and evolving trajectories, this article reveals that Italy's strategic engagement with the Indo-Pacific is already significant and unfolding under three broad areas: (a) economy; (b) security; and (c) norms. It then assesses the benefits and risks of this developing foreign policy, and argues that the former outweigh the latter, a condition which is conducive to the establishment of an official Italian Indo-Pacific strategy. As the first scholarly work on the Italian role in the Indo-Pacific, this research makes a novel contribution to the literature on both Italian foreign policy and the Indo-Pacific security landscape, by investigating a complementary approach to that of existing Indo-Pacific strategies.

This book argues that the new great power contest between the United States and the People's Republic of China, which has as its epicentre the complex Indo-Pacific region, is having a detrimental impact on the region's existing order system. Analysing why the great powers are increasingly at loggerheads, the manifold risks this entails, and how the various stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific can find a durable regional order more constructive than confrontational, the book, avoiding theory, proposes a new equilibrium based on practical ways to manage burgeoning conflict and maintain order and stability by compartmentalising problems and challenges while seeking to maintain a balance among stakeholder interests.

Despite giving lip service to the importance of respecting the "centrality" of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy (CIPS) conflicts with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). Instead, Canada defines its position in the Indo-Pacific through the lens of American priorities and perspectives. For its part, the AOIP expresses an ASEAN consensus position but fails to capture the highly complex and varied views of different ASEAN states toward the US and China. The ASEAN states are status-quo powers navigating a region that is undergoing profound strategic and economic changes. By allying itself so firmly with the US, Canada participates in sowing tension in the Indo-Pacific and may face potential consequences in the longer term. CIPS allows little room for the complex regional relations that the ASEAN states are trying to balance.

Received 06.02.2021. The article focuses on the Indian version of the Indo-Pacific concept. The author notes that the Russian attitude towards Indo-Pacific is ambiguous, and argues that the reason is the vague and unstructured concept as such. The article analyzes the origin and history of the term Indo-Pacific itself. The author traces its history back 170 years and describes in detail how it was transformed during these years, consistently evolving from an exclusively geographical name to a geopolitical construct, then to an oceanographic term, then to a geopolitical construct again. Further, the author analyzes in detail the preconditions in the political, cultural, economic and security spheres, that had developed by the time of the emergence of the Indo-Pacific concept: India's desire to form a sphere of political influence within the borders of the Indian Ocean region, confirming its status as a great power; concerns about Chinese expansion and the alleged "String of Pearls" strategy in the Indian Ocean; the desire to restore the cultural and civilizational unity of the Indosphere; an attempt to build a comprehensive economic strategy that would allow India with relying on regional organizations, bilateral ties and trade megablocks to catch up with China economically. Because of these preconditions the idea of the Indo-Pacific, proposed by the experts, was immediately accepted by the political elites of India and turned into one of the pillars of Indian foreign policy. The author identifies two main visions of the Indo-Pacific in Indian discourse: as an anti-Chinese concept and as a broader cultural and civilizational concept, which should serve as a basis for India's further expansion into the Pacific. However, economic problems may prevent this concept from being further strengthened and turned into a full-fledged initiative. Nevertheless, India is unlikely to abandon the idea of the Indo-Pacific, so Russia should develop its own version of the Indo-Pacific concept, which would be combined with the Indian one and at the same time correspond to the interests of Russia.

As Canada looks to strengthen its presence in Asia, the government's Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) provides an important framework for guiding grand narratives on policy. Yet the document's broad language raises questions around its pragmatism and how the strategy can be operationalized. To do so, Canada must work at bringing new ideas, be regionally present, and show solidarity with people of Asia. The government's work must not digress into a one-way dialogue more concerned with preaching Canadian values and interests. Rather, there is a foreign policy imperative for listening to the diverse voices of regional stakeholders since Canada needs the Indo-Pacific more than the Indo-Pacific needs Canada.