Three Faces of the Indo-Pacific: Understanding the “Indo-Pacific” from an IR Theory Perspective

This paper examines the three faces of the Indo-Pacific from an IR theory perspective. It suggests that the realist face of the Indo-Pacific is a “balancing strategy” against China. The liberal face of the Indo-Pacific aims to form a new “institutional setting” that facilitates cooperation among sta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:East Asia (Piscataway, N.J.) N.J.), 2018-06, Vol.35 (2), p.149-161
Main Author: He, Kai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Constructivism
Cooperation
Diplomacy
Externality
Institutionalization
International cooperation
International relations
Liberalism
Peace
Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International Studies
Realism
Regions
Social constructionism
Social Sciences
State
Theory
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Summary:This paper examines the three faces of the Indo-Pacific from an IR theory perspective. It suggests that the realist face of the Indo-Pacific is a “balancing strategy” against China. The liberal face of the Indo-Pacific aims to form a new “institutional setting” that facilitates cooperation among states across the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. According to constructivism, the Indo-Pacific offers an “ideational construct” for promoting value-oriented and norm-based diplomacy in the region. This paper argues that these three faces of the Indo-Pacific concept are theoretically problematic and practically flawed. There are two ways of institutionalizing the Indo-Pacific, though. One is exclusive institutionalization with China as an outside target, which follows the realist logic of making China a common threat in the region. The success of this approach mainly depends on how China behaves in the future. The other is the inclusive approach of institutionalizing the Indo-Pacific by embracing China and other states into a new Indo-Pacific institution. It will not be easy, but the endeavor of the inclusive institutionalization of the Indo-Pacific will produce positive externalities of peace and stability to the region.
ISSN:1096-6838
1874-6284
DOI:10.1007/s12140-018-9286-5