Multilateralism in the Indo-Pacific: Conceptual and Operational Challenges

This book focuses on emerging new multilateralism in the Indo-Pacific and offers a useful analysis of various existing and evolving formulations and alignments in the region.

The book problematises the evolution, relevance and changing contours of emerging economic and security architectures and connects these to various unilateral and multilateral initiatives that undergird the overall transformation in these economic and strategic multilaterals in this region. The chapters offer a comprehensive overview of organisations and institutions, and the contributors provide their historical background and contemporary focus with implications for the future. Consequently, the book provides a balanced assessment of evolving trends elucidated by both its theoretical debates and empirical analyses. It assesses the outline and influence of non-traditional threats that have received only stand-alone, and not integrated, examination involving issues as climate change, piracy, smuggling and terrorist activity, triggering a whole gamut of humanitarian and disaster relief strategies.

Comprehensive in analysis and approach, the book will be of interest to scholars of Political Science, Foreign Policy, Security Studies, International Relations, International Political Economy and Area Studies, including Asian, East Asian or Indo-Pacific Studies.

Swaran Singh is professor and chair of Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and president of the Association of Asia Scholars (New Delhi). He has published over a dozen books, including Revisiting Gandhi: Legacies for World Peace and National Integration (2022), Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Studies on China and Chineseness (2021) and Corridors of Engagement (2020). He regularly speaks and writes on Asian affairs.

Reena Marwah is professor at Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, India. She has published 16 books, including Re-imagining India Thailand Relations: A Multilateral and Bilateral Perspective (2020), China’s Economic Footprint in South and Southeast Asia: A Futuristic Perspective (2021) and India-Vietnam Relations: Development Dynamics and Strategic Alignment (2022).