The New Power Politics of Asia

This course has three aims. The first is to explore and explain the nature of power politics as a mode of international relations. The second is to explore specifically the power politics of Asia today, and try to understand what is happening and where it is going. And the third is to explore some concepts and ideas that can help us understand power politics better. The study of power politics is central to any study of strategy, but it is especially interesting and important in Asia today, because Asia is right now in the throes of a major power-political revolution as a radical change in the distribution of wealth and power overtakes the old order and forces the creation of a new one. We will explore this process closely in the course, by looking at how key regional powers are trying to position themselves in the new order of the Asian Century, and how their interests and aims interact with one another in the regional strategic system.