South-East Asia: A Hotspot in Great Power Rivalry
In South-East Asia, the emerging great power China is challenging the supremacy of the US, which is clinging to its leading role in the region, argue Linda Maduz and Simon Stocker in this new CSS Analysis. Although the countries of South-East Asia agree that the great power conflict is harming them as individual countries and as a region, they are, nevertheless, seeking mainly selective, country-specific solutions in response to their shrinking room for maneuver.
In South-East Asia, the escalating US-China conflict is clearly moving into the spotlight. China and the US have incompatible goals and ideas about the political order and view each other as potential military opponents. In the competition for influence over the countries in the region, technology and infrastructure policy are playing an increasingly important role alongside security and trade. These different policy areas are becoming inextricably linked.