Hegemonic transition in East Asia? The dynamics of Chinese and American power

Abstract

The ‘rise of China’ is seen by some observers as a precursor of inevitable hegemonic competition in East Asia. At the very least, it seems likely that China’s influence in East Asia will grow at the expense of the United States. Whether this will eventually amount to a form of ‘hegemonic transition’ is far less clear. It is, therefore, an opportune moment to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of China and the US in East Asia. This paper suggests that the nature of hegemonic competition and transition is more uncertain and complex than some of the most influential theoretical understandings of hegemony would have us believe.

Αμερικανικός Ηγεμονισμός Και Ανάδυση Νέων Περιφερειακών Δυνάμεων: Ανακατατάξεις Στο Σύγχρονο Διεθνές Σύστημα;

“…Η οικονομική ανάπτυξη της Κίνας τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες της έχει δώσει τη δυνατότητα να μπορεί να προβάλει ισχύ στην κεντρική και ανατολική Ασία και να επιχειρεί να ηγεμονεύσει στη συγκεκριμένη γεωγραφική περιοχή (Beeson, 2009). Η οικονομική της ενδυνάμωση της έδωσε την ικανότητα να δημιουργήσει οικονομική επιρροή έναντι άλλων κρατών στην περιφέρειά της, αλλά και να ανταγωνιστεί παραδοσιακές οικονομικές δυνάμεις.…”

Towards a New Political Economy of Development

“…While currency cooperation in Asia has yet to take on anything like the EU's form of integration-based currency union, important agreements and institutions at the regional level have been created (Emmers and Ravenhill 2011). These agreements, which helped to immunise East and South East Asia from the GFC, (Emmers and Ravenhill 2011) arose not only out of crises but also from the rather more mundane context of new and evolving power relations and economic alliances within East Asia conditioned by the decades long economic rise of China, Japan's main regional rival and security threat, but also its biggest global trading partner (Beeson 2009c).…”

Asymmetrical Regionalism: China, Southeast Asia and Uneven Development

“…According to the realist tradition, economic growth inevitably presages potential conflict, national assertion, and a threat to the status quo, as rising powers challenge those currently in the ascendantespecially if the latter are perceived to be in decline [16,46]. China's rise and the relative economic decline of the US-highlighted by the US's dependence on China to fund its trade and budget deficits-have created conditions in which the idea of hegemonic competition, even transition, no longer looks as fanciful as it once did [7,37]. For the countries of Southeast Asia, this presents a potentially acute dilemma as they try to balance the competing threats and opportunities presented by their principal economic and strategic partners.…”