Publication

This brief explains the collective role that non-leading regional states in East Asia have in exacerbating security dilemmas between major powers at moments of power transition. How regional states from Japan and Korea, through various ASEAN members along with Australia, individually respond to Chinese and US initiatives can aggravate Sino-US suspicions, even if inadvertently, the author argues. After all, support from regional actors has influence on the success of bilateral, as well as multilateral, initiatives, arrangements, and institutions that ground US and Chinese efforts to maintain or modify the prevailing order in East Asia.