Abstract
International politics is often characterised by hegemonic world orders that ensure peace and stability in international system. Post-Cold War, two decades have seen absolute American hegemony. With China’s economic and military rise, US primacy stands contested (p.2). Power transition theorists argue that transition of power leads to conflict and confrontation between a declining hegemon and the rising challenger state. The book attempts to highlight the current transition of power in Asia and India’s foreign policy choices. It underlines the theme that China’s rise and United States’ gradual decline has created a ‘systemic instability in Asian geo-politics’ (p.125). The book is authored by Harsh V. Pant, Professor of International Relations at Defence Studies Department and India Institute at Kings College, London, UK and his co-author Yogesh Joshi, a student of International Politics at the Center for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. They identify that apart from India, many other Asian states are also growing and call them ‘swing states’ as ‘the unknown nature of their intentions and their choices could tilt balance of power in one way or the other’ (p.4). According to the authors, given the structural imperative of strategic challenges, India has been following a ‘hedging strategy’ that has three pillars – ‘strategic partnership with the US, normalisation of relations with China and developing local balance of power mechanism by seeking close strategic cooperation with Asia’s middle powers’ (p.125). The authors also highlight India’s domestic political environment and previous as well as the current government’s strategies to deal with power transition phenomenon in the Asia-Pacific.
Keyword(s)
Harsh V. Pant, US Pivot, Indian Foreign Policy, Asia’s, Balance of Power