Strategic Dynamics in Indo-Pacific Foreign Policy

The Indo-Pacific region has emerged as the principal theatre of global strategic competition, marked by shifting alliances, evolving patterns of cooperation and contestation over maritime routes, resources and political influence. Great powers engage in a multifaceted interplay that spans traditional security concerns, such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and non-traditional issues, including climate security, infrastructure development and digital governance. Secondary and smaller states respond through calibrated approaches that range from balancing and hedging to selective bandwagoning, seeking to navigate between the competing interests of the United States, China, India and other regional actors. This dynamic environment is shaped by institutional initiatives—such as regional trade agreements and security dialogues—and by ad hoc diplomatic efforts, including coastguard deployments, peacekeeping missions and multilateral climate partnerships. The convergence of strategic, economic and environmental imperatives underscores the global significance of Indo-Pacific foreign policy, with implications for maritime governance, supply-chain resilience and the evolution of international norms.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have examined the role of neutral diplomacy and soft-power projection in stabilising regional contests. One analysis focuses on the ways in which a newly independent state deployed its peacekeeping forces under United Nations auspices to mediate Cold War tensions on the Korean Peninsula, illustrating the strategic value of non-military initiatives in forging multilateral consensus. This work highlights how diplomatic neutrality and humanitarian engagement can underpin long-term influence in complex great-power environments, offering a model for contemporary peace operations in the Indo-Pacific.

Strategic Dynamics in Indo-Pacific Foreign Policy publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in strategic dynamics in indo-pacific foreign policy across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Hedging: A foreign-policy strategy in which states avoid choosing sides by combining engagement with multiple great powers to minimise risks and maximise gains.

Bandwagoning: A strategy whereby a weaker state aligns closely with a more powerful actor to secure benefits or protection, often at the expense of strategic autonomy.

Balancing: The pursuit of countervailing alliances or capabilities to resist dominance by a potential hegemon.

Securitization: The process by which political actors frame an issue as an existential threat, enabling extraordinary policy responses.

References

1. A South Asian neutral power in the United Nations: India’s peacekeeping mission on the Korean peninsula (1947–1955). Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (2023).
2. Shrinking room for hedging: system-unit dynamics and behavior of smaller powers. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (2019).
3. The Securitization of ‘Chinese Influence’ in Australia. Journal of Contemporary China (2022).
4. An “Ironclad Friend”: Explaining Cambodia’s Bandwagoning Policy towards China. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs (2020).