East of India, South of China

Description

East of India, South of China is an incisive analysis of the ebbs and flows of the geopolitical fortunes of India and China—the two Asian giants—in Southeast Asia. Amitav Acharya charts the key events and turning points in the triangular relationship between India, China, and Southeast Asia since the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, and unravels its importance in the construction of the Asian and global strategic order.
The book shows how India’s pre-eminent role in designing the regional architecture in Asia was diluted after the Bandung era, especially post the Sino-India War in 1962, and how, by the 1980s, it had become a political and diplomatic non-entity—if not a pariah—in Southeast Asia even as China emerged as a dominant regional power over the next three decades. The last two decades, however, have seen India making substantial inroads into the ASEAN scene with its ‘Look East’ policies, altering power equations in the region to no small degree.
Revisiting the question of contemporary Asian order and posing critical questions about the future of regional leadership in Asia, Acharya challenges the conventional wisdom that imagined the Asian order solely premised upon US–Japan–China relations and gave little attention to India–China–Southeast Asia relations.

About the Author

Amitav Acharya is Distinguished Professor and the UNESCO chairperson in Transnational Challenges and Governance at the School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC, USA. His major publications on Southeast Asia include Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the Problem of Regional Order (2001), The Making of Southeast Asia: International Relations of a Region (2013), and Whose Ideas Matter?: Agency and Power in Asian Regionalism (2009).

Reviews

‘Blending a historically grounded discussion of values and norms with an astute analysis of geopolitics, Amitav Acharya’s stimulating book suggests how Southeast Asia might serve as a bridge between China and India during the era of their simultaneous rise.’
—Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of History, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA

‘In the twenty-first century, the heart of Asia will be defined by the interaction between China, India, and Southeast Asia. Amitav Acharya’s timely book brings out the rich texture of these long and complex relationships and explains how they will drive the future history of Asia. It will become an indispensable guide to understanding the new Asia.’
—Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and author of The ASEAN Miracle

‘Analysing the multiple impulses shaping Southeast Asia, Amitav Acharya challenges the conventional wisdom on the inevitability of geopolitical rivalry between India and China in the region. He constructs a compelling argument on the possibilities for the region emerging as a bridge between India and China and ordering a peaceful Asia.’
—C. Raja Mohan, Director, Carnegie India, Delhi

‘This is a timely reminder that India’s impact on and China’s relations with Southeast Asia are deep. Amitav Acharya shows convincingly why the region is recovering its place as a bridge between two great civilizations. He also shows how the making of ASEAN can reshape a new Indo-Pacific story.’
—Wang Gungwu, University Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, and Chairman, Board of Trustees, ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute

Table of contents

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Ideas of Asia
2. From ‘Indianization’ to ‘Look East’
3. Jawaharlal Nehru at Bandung: East versus West
4. Chou En-Lai at Bandung: The Origins of Sino-Indian Rivalry?
5. India and China in Southeast Asia: Competition and Convergence?
6. China and India in the Emerging Global Order: Lessons from ASEAN
Conclusion: Alternative Visions of Asia
Index
About the Author