Description
There are widespread concerns that an emerging global crisis is unfolding in the Indo-Pacific region. With the emerging US-China rivalry in the region, the rise of militarisation and security pact involving major countries outside the region, and the crisis in the South China Sea, scholars have considered the Indo-Pacific region as a new site for future strategic tension. The tension in Indo-Pacific has often been characterised as a part of great power rivalry between the United States and China, whose strategic competition has been intensified since the rise of China and the trade wars with the United States. This panel aims to bring different insights on ‘security’ in the Indo-Pacific region by problematising the notion of ‘security’ in the Indo-Pacific. Rather than reiterating dominant narratives that overemphasise great power competition, this panel highlights the marginalised actors and discursive practices understand Indo-Pacific security. It addresses four key questions. What does ‘security’ actually mean in the region, and for whom? Whose interests are best served in the security discourses in the Indo-Pacific? How do small and middle powers respond to the security challenges, and how do they negotiate with bigger powers? What are critical elements that play role to avoid future catastrophe in the region? To address these questions, this panel presents five papers that problematises various aspects of security in Indo-Pacific, including marginalised community, small states, astropolitics, and middle powers.
