Abstract
Moving beyond the security and status dilemma explanations, this chapter examines the discursive underpinnings of America’s Indo-Pacific strategic vision. It argues that the Indo-Pacific strategy represents America's duscursive anxiety amid the changing regional balance of power and China's assertive rise. This strategy is an approach to manage discursive anxiety and emotional dissatisfaction in the highly contested and changing international order. In order to maintain its hegemonic supremacy, the US since the Donald Trump administration has adopted the Indo-Pacific as a new discourse. The chapter asserts that despite his differences in style, President Joe Biden has continued the Indo-Pacific strategy and China policy. In contrast with Trump, Biden pursues a liberal approach to Indo-Pacific, culminated in value-laden diplomacy. The study concludes with the key characteristics of the Sino-US ice age of bipolar international order as well as the future prospects and pitfalls of the Indo-Pacific region in the third decade of the twenty-first century.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Exception is Kai He and Huiyun Feng (2020), who analyze “three waves of Indo-Pacific discourse.” They highlight these waves in terms of an “institutionalization dilemma,” indicating that regional institution-building process remains slow and so far, unsuccessful. Building on neoliberal institutionalism, He and Feng maintain that the future prospects of Indo-Pacific institutionalization largely depend on executive and ideational leadership.
- 2.
I developed this concept in my previous work, see Poonkham (2022).
- 3.
The “Indo-Pacific” was also widely used by Trump’s key policy-makers. For instance, Secretary of Defense James Mattis used the “Indo-Pacific” term for the first time in September 2017: “A peaceful and prosperous future in the Indo-Pacific region is based on a strong rules-based international order and a shared commitment to international law, to peaceful resolution of disputes and respect for territorial integrity. US-India defense cooperation has steadily expanded in recent years, underpinned by a strategic convergence between our two countries based on common objectives and goals in the region” (Mattis 2017). Mattis (2017) made a point that “we value India’s leadership across the Indo-Pacific,” and pointed to the trilateral Malabar exercises between India, Japan, and the US as illustrating this strategic convergence. Likewise, in October 2017, then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivered a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC. While the speech largely focused on US-India relations, he foreshadowed language that would appear in later, more comprehensive, descriptions of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, stating, “India and the United States must foster greater prosperity and security with the aim of a free and open Indo-Pacific” (Tillerson 2017).
- 4.
Pak Nung Wong (2021, 113–114) narrowly defines techno-geopolitics as “China’s state-led technological pursuits in the selective sectors of 5G, cybersecurity, AI, robotics and biotechnology to craft, establish and maintain a new transnational developmental space for everybody-winds benefits in Europe and Asia.”
References
Allison, G. (2017). Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Antonov, A., & Gang, Q. (2021, November 26). Russian and Chinese Ambassadors: Respecting People’s Democratic Rights. The National Interest. https://nationalinterest.org/feature/russian-and-chinese-ambassadors-respecting-people%E2%80%99s-democratic-rights-197165.
Beeson, M., & Lee-Brown, T. (2020). Regionalism for Realists? The Evolution of the Indo-Pacific. Chinese Political Science Review. 6, 167-186.
Berenskoetter, F. (2007). Friends, There Are No Friends? An Intimate Reframing of the International. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 35(3), 647–676.
Biden Jr, J. R. (2020, January 23). Why America Must Lead Again Rescuing US Foreign Policy After Trump. Foreign Affairs. March/April, 64–76.
Biden-Xi talks: China warns US about ‘playing with fire’ on Taiwan. (2021, November 16). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59301167.
Biegun, S. E. (2020, October 12). Remarks by Deputy Secretary Stephen E. Biegun. US Department of State. https://2017-2021.state.gov/remarks-by-deputy-secretary-stephen-e-biegun/index.html.
Birtles, B. (2018, March 8). China mocks Australia over ‘Indo-Pacific’ concept it says will ‘dissipate’. ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-08/china-mocks-australia-over-indo-pacific-concept/9529548.
Bleiker, R., & Hutchison, E. (2008). Fear No More: Emotions and World Politics. Review of International Studies, 34(1), 115-135.
Bleiker, R., & Hutchison, E. (2014). Introduction: Emotions and World Politics. International Theory, 6(3), 490-491.
Bremmer, I. (2021). The Technopolar Moment: How Digital Powers Will Reshape the Global Order. Foreign Affairs. November-December, 112–128.
Cummings, B. (1998). Rimspeak; or, the Discourse of the ‘Pacific Rim.’ In A. Dirlik (Ed.), What Is in a Rim? Critical Perspectives on the Pacific Region Idea (pp. 29–47). Routledge.
Episkopos, M. (2021, July 15). Playing with Fire: China Is Mad That Biden Is Backing Taiwan. The National Interest. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/playing-fire-china-mad-biden-backing-taiwan-189753.
Epstein, C. (2010). Who Speaks? Discourse, the Subject and the Study of Identity in International Politics. European Journal of International Relations, 17(2), 327–350.
Goldstein, A. (2020). China's Grand Strategy under Xi Jinping: Reassurance, Reform, and Resistance. International Security. 45(1), 164-201.
Hall, T. (2017). Emotional Diplomacy. Oxford University Press.
He, K., & Feng, H. (2020). The Institutionalization of the Indo-Pacific: Problems and Prospects. International Affairs. 96(1), 149-168.
Heidegger, M. (1967). Being and Time, (J. Macquarrie, & E. Robinson, trans.) Harper and Row.
Herman, S. (2020, June 14). Trump Toughens Talk and Action on China. VOA. https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_trump-toughens-talk-and-action-china/6192793.html.
Hutchison, E. (2016). Affective Communities in World Politics: Collective Emotions After Trauma. Cambridge University Press.
Jones, L., & Hameiri, S. (2021). Fractured China: How State Transformation Is Shaping China’s Rise. Cambridge University Press.
Kierkegaard, S. (1980). The Concept of Anxiety. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Koga, K. (2019). Japan-Southeast Asia Relations: The Emerging Indo-Pacific Era. Comparative Connections. 21(1), 125-134.
Kuik, C. C. (2021). The Twin Chessboards of US-China Rivalry: Impact on the Geostrategic Supply and Demand in Post-Pandemic Asia. Asian Perspective, 45(1), 157-176.
Lacan, J. (2014). Anxiety: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book X. (A. R. Price, trans.). Polity Press.
Lebow, R. N. (2008). A Cultural Theory of International Relations. Cambridge University Press.
Mahmubani, K. (2020). Has China Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy. Public Affairs.
Markwica, R. (2018). Emotional Choices: How the Logic of Affect Shapes Coercive Diplomacy. Oxford University Press.
Martin, P. (2021). China’s Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy. Oxford University Press.
Mattis, J., & Sitharaman, N. (2017, September 26). Secretary Mattis Joint Press Conference with Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman. U.S. Department of Defene. https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/1325283/secretary-mattis-joint-press-conference-with-minister-of-defence-nirmala-sithar/.
Medcalf, R. (2018). Reimagining Asia: From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific. In G. Gilbert & C. Joseph (Eds.), International Relations and Asia’s Southern Tier (pp. 9-28). Palgrave Macmillan.
Medcalf, R. (2019). Indo-Pacific Visions: Giving Solidarity a Chance. Asia Policy. 14(3), 79-95.
Mlodinow, L. (2022). Emotional: The New Thinking about Feelings. Allen Lane.
Pardesi, M. S. (2019). The Indo-Pacific: A ‘New’ Region or the Return of History? Australian Journal of International Affairs. 74(2), 124-146.
Pompeo, M. (2020, July 21). Statement by Secretary Michael R. Pompeo, US Position on Maritime Claims in the South China Sea. U.S. Embassy in Laos. https://la.usembassy.gov/statement-by-secretary-michael-r-pompeo-u-s-position-on-maritime-claims-in-the-south-china-sea/.
Pongsudhirak, T. (2021, December 3). The Geopolitics of China’s CPTPP Move. Bangkok Post. https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2225935/the-geopolitics-of-chinas-cptpp-move.
Poonkham, J. (2022). A Genealogy of Bamboo Diplomacy: The Politics of Thai Détente with Russia and China. Australian National University Press.
Pu, X. (2019). One Mountain, Two Tigers: China, the United States, and the Status Dilemma in the Indo-Pacific. Asia Policy. 14(3), 25-40.
Tass Russian News Agency. (2019, May 30). Putin notes importance of developing AI technology for quick decisions. https://tass.com/science/1060846.
The Department of Defense. (2018). Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America: Sharpening the American Military’s Competitive Edge. https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf.
The Department of Defense. (2019). Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, 1 June, https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/1863396/dod-releases-indo-pacific-strategy-report/.
The White House. (2017, December). National Security Strategy of the United States of America. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf.
The White House. (2021, June 12). Fact Sheet: President Biden and G7 Leaders Launch Build Back Better World (B3W) Partnership. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/12/fact-sheet-president-biden-and-g7-leaders-launch-build-back-better-world-b3w-partnership/.
The White House. (2022, February 11). Fact Sheet: Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/02/11/fact-sheet-indo-pacific-strategy-of-the-united-states/.
Tillerson, R. (2017, October 18). Defining Our Relationship with India for the Next Century: An Address by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. CSIS. https://www.csis.org/analysis/defining-our-relationship-india-next-century-address-us-secretary-state-rex-tillerson.
Tow, W. (2019). Minilateral Security’s Relevance to US Strategy in the Indo-Pacific: Challenges and Prospects. The Pacific Review, 32(2), 232-244.
Trump, D. (2017, November 10). Remarks by President Trump at APEC CEO Summit. U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Vietnam.https://vn.usembassy.gov/20171110-remarks-president-trump-apec-ceo-summit/.
Tunsjø, Ø. (2018). The Return of Bipolarity in World Politics: China, the United States, and Geostructural Realism. Columbia University Press.
Wong, P. N. (2021). Techno-geopolitics: US-China Tech War and the Practice of Digital Statecraft. Routledge.
Wuthnow, J. (2019a). Contested Strategies: China, the United States, and the Indo-Pacific Security Dilemma. China International Strategy Review. 1, 99–110.
Wuthnow, J. (2019b). US “Minilateralism” in Asia and China’s Responses: A New Security Dilemma? Journal of Contemporary China, 28(115), 133–150.
Xuetong, Y. (2019). The Age of Uneasy Peace: Chinese Power in Divided World. Foreign Affairs. 98 (1), 40-49.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Poonkham, J. (2023). Pax Indo-Pacifica in the Sino-US Ice Age: Geopolitical Anxiety and America’s Struggle for Global Supremacy. In: Sudo, S., Yamahata, C. (eds) ASEAN and Regional Actors in the Indo-Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4020-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4020-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-4019-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-4020-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)