Title: ‘Power Realignments in Asia – China, India, and the United States’
Edited by Alyssa Ayres and C. Raja Mohan
Publisher: SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
www.sagepub.in
Reviewed by Lynn Ockersz

‘China-based factories make 70 percent of the world’s toys, 60 percent of its bicycles, half its shoes, and one-third of its luggage’.

The quote is from economist and Executive Director, PepsiCo India Holding Pvt. Ltd, Vivek Bharati’s paper titled, ‘China’s Economic Resurgence and "Flexible Coalitions"’, in this timely book on the latest changes in the global power structure. Besides pointing to China’s rising eminence as a predominant world economic power, the quote gives credence to the writer’s later pronouncement that, ‘In future, a recession in the United States would be less of a shock to the global economy than it was a decade ago or is even now’. This is principally on account of the substantial contribution China and India are making to world economic growth. The epicenters of global economic growth, in short, are now in Asia and not in Northern America and Western Europe.

No discussion of global power trends is currently possible without an acknowledgement of the dynamic role played by China and India in world economic growth but what contemporary discourse usually lacks is an in depth look at these ground- breaking realities and ‘Power Realignments in Asia…’ could be considered as amply satisfying this lacuna in contemporary knowledge.

Edited by Alyssa Ayres, an international strategic consultant with McLarty Associates, Washington DC, and C. Raja Mohan, Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress, Washington DC, the book contains 13 papers on current global power relations with special reference to China, India and the US. If one is seeking further insights into the much spoken of contemporary ‘tectonic shifts’ in international politics, then ‘Power Realignments in Asia…’, would prove extremely useful as a knowledge source.

Of special significance are emerging trends and nuances in Indo-US relations and their implications for these powers’ ties with China. While containing Chinese influence in particularly East Asia is a prime US concern, and it would be in India’s interest to ensure that it acts as a counterweight against China in Asia, we are not about to witness any dramatic, destabilizing tendencies in the relations among these states.

In fact there is currently a remarkable confluence of interests between the US and India, which was epitomized by the sealing of the civilian nuclear power deal between the states some time back, and we could expect the countries to share some common concerns in regard to the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), but India would choose to relate to the US as an equal and the possibility is great that the Indo-US relationship would develop on its own merits, independent of the China factor.

There are a number of papers in this book which yield an abundance of insights into the complex relations among these pivotal states whose interactions play a primary role in shaping current and future international relations. ‘The Evolving Security Order in Asia – Implications for US-India Relations’ by David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University, for instance, speaks optimistically about US-China relations, against a backdrop of stepped-up, proactive Chinese involvement in the interstate relations of Asia over the past few years.

Writing of the new, ‘proactive’ China, Shambaugh states that ‘China’s new proactive regional posture is reflected virtually in all policy spheres- economic, cultural, diplomatic and strategic- and this parallels its increased activism on the global stage’, but this does not necessarily mean that it would be on a collision course with other global powers, such as the US. Contrary to some popular perceptions, the US and China are today co-operating in a number of issue areas and this positive development holds out the promise that we would not be easily witnessing any bruising power struggles between the states. Some of these issue over which there has been constructive cooperation are: North Korea’s nuclear programme, Iran’s nuclear project, Afghanistan, counter- terrorism, Asian issues and Taiwan.

For a closely reasoned out realistic assessment of the possibilities positive interaction between the three powers has opened out, one needs to have a good look at the paper authored by Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Ashley J. Tellis, titled, ‘US and Indian Interests in India’s Extended Neighbourhood’. Tellis argues that although both the US and India are apprehensive about China’s growing power, ‘both states want to benefit from economic interdependence of China to the degree possible…because of its advantages for the promotion of social welfare at home and its possibly pacifying effects in international politics’.

Multipolarity characterizes the current world order and on this issue almost all the contributors to ‘Power Realignments in Asia…’ are agreed. There also seems to be broad agreement that essential unity of purpose rather than divisive contention and friction would generally characterize big power relations, although their ties are unlikely to be entirely free of tensions.

However the explosive emergence of China and India as predominant global economic powers and the prospect such land mark changes raise of an economically resurgent Asia, help focus on the vital importance of international economic interdependence as a shaping influence of the emerging world order. As pointed out by Director, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi, Jasjit Singh in his paper ‘Security Concerns and China’s Military Capabilities…’, it will be the endeavour of countries such as India to place strong emphasis on the development of its exceptionally substantial human resources, in the face of these realities. To advance this end, states such as India would be orienting their policies towards advancing co-operation with the rest of the world while protecting their sovereignty. All in all, cooperative ties will be preferred over hostile interstate relations.