Abstract
Since the early years of the twenty-first century, a number of key regional governments have consciously chosen to alter the way they talk about the region, and have now largely shifted from using the ‘Asia-Pacific’ to the ‘Indo-Pacific’ construct. But after three decades of utilising the ‘Asia-Pacific’ concept, why has this been the case and how might this shift in geographical conceptualisation alter the strategic framework of the region? This paper argues that the ‘Indo-Pacific’ is a regional reconceptualisation utilised by Japan, Australia, India and the USA to address deficiencies in Asia’s maritime security and institutional architecture, which are being simultaneously influenced by a more assertive Chinese posture and waning U.S. influence. Additionally, the Indo-Pacific concept has developed in tandem with a transformation in the regional security architecture. The utilisation of maritime minilateralism between Japan, India, Australia and the USA supplements Asia’s bilateral American alliances, with an array of trilateral security dialogues or ‘security triangles’. The Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific shift is really an instance of an emerging minilateral security regionalism, rather than the predominant forms of bilateral and multilateral security and economic regionalism that have dominated Asia in recent decades.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abe, S. (2006) Towards of Beautiful Country: My Vision for Japan, New York: Vertical.
Abe, S. (2007) “Confluence of the Two Seas’ – Speech by H. E. Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan at the Parliament of the Republic of India, 22 August’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/pmv0708/speech-2.html
Abe, S. (2012) 'Asia’s Democratic Security Diamond', Project Syndicate, December 27.
Acharya, A. (2001) Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the Problem of Regional Order, London: Routledge.
Aso, T. (2006) ‘Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan’s Expanding Diplomatic Horizons’, Minister of Foreign Affairs, November 30, Tokyo: Japan Institute of International Affairs Summit.
Attina, F. (2010) ‘Global Power Competition and the Rise of Minilateralism in Peace Operations’, in D. Imera and F. Attina (eds.), Multilateral Security and ESDP Operations, London: Ashgate Publishing, pp. 19–34.
Auslin, M. (2012) ‘The Struggle For Power in the Indo-Pacific’, Turkish Policy Quarterly, 10(3), 145–151.
Australia-Japan-US Joint Statement (2015) Japan-United States-Australia Defence Ministers Meeting, May 30, Canberra: Minister for Defence.
Australia-Japan-US Joint Statement (2016) Japan-United States-Australia Trilateral Strategic Dialogue, July 25, Canberra: Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Bisley, N. (2007) ‘Asian Security Architectures’ in A. J. Tellis and M. Wills (eds.), Strategic Asia: Domestic Political Change and Grand Strategy, Washington: National Bureau of Asian Research.
Bisley, N. (2016) ‘Indo-Pacific: The Maritime and the Continental’, ASPI, November 21.
Brewster, D. (2010) ‘The Australia-India Security Declaration: The Quadrilateral Redux?’, Security Challenges, 6(1), 1–9.
Brewster, D. (2016) ‘Security in the Indo-Pacific Needs India’s Helping Hand’, The Wire, September 5. https://thewire.in/64160/trilateral-security-the-best-option-for-indo-pacific-relations/
Buzan, B. and O. Waever (2003) Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Buzan, B. (2011) ‘The South Asian Security Complex in a Decentring World Order: Reconsidering Regions and Powers Ten Years On’, International Studies, 48(1), 1–19.
Carter, A. (2016), ‘The Rebalance and Asia-Pacific Security: Building a Principled Security Network’, Foreign Affairs, 95(6), November/December.
Cha, V. D. (2010) ‘Powerplay: Origins of the US Alliance System in Asia’, International Security, 34(3), 158–196.
Chellaney, B. (2008) ‘Obstacles to Overcome in the Development of a Concert of Asia-Pacific Democracies’, The Japan Times, February 20. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20080220bc.html
Clinton, H. (2010) ‘America’s Engagement in the Asia-Pacific’, 28 October, U.S. Department of State, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Department of Defence (Australia) (2013) Defence White Paper 2013, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Department of Defence (Australia) (2016) Defence White Paper 2013, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Department of State (United States) (2015) ‘Inaugural U.S.-India-Japan Trilateral Ministerial Dialogue’, 29 September, Washington.
Dirlik, A. (1998) ‘The Asia-Pacific Idea: Reality and Representation in the Invention of a Regional Structure’, in A. Dirlik (ed.), What Is in a Rim? Critical Perspectives on the Pacific Region Idea, New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp. 15–36.
George, V. K. (2015) ‘India, U.S., Japan say Interests in Indo-Pacific Converge’, The Hindu, October 1. http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/trilateral-meeting-of-foreign-ministers-of-india-united-states-and-japan/article7708442.ece
Green, M. J. (2011) ‘Japan, India & the Strategic Triangle with China’, in A. J. Tellis, T. Tanner and J. Keough (eds.), Asia Responds to its Rising Powers: China and India, Washington: National Bureau of Asian Research, pp. 131–160.
Green, M. J. (2014) ‘Strategic Asian Triangles’ in S. Pekkanen, J. Ravenhill & R. Foot (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Grossman, M. (2005) ‘The Tsunami Core Group: A Step Toward a Transformed Diplomacy in Asia and Beyond’, Security Challenges, 1(1).
Haider, S. (2015) ‘India-Japan-Australia forum not anti-China: Peter Varghese’, The Hindu, June 9. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/chinas-actions-cause-for-concern-australia/article7295709.ece
Hall, I. (2017) ‘The Australia–India–Japan trilateral: converging interests and converging perceptions?’, The Strategist, March 17.
Hu, R. W. (2009) Building Asia-Pacific Regional Architecture: The Challenge of Hybrid Regionalism, Washington: The Brookings Institution, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies.
Ikenberry, G. J. (2001) After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major War, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
India-Japan (2006) ‘Joint Statement Towards Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership’, 15 December, Tokyo.
Khurana, G. (2007) ‘Security of Sea Lines: India-Japan Cooperation’, Strategic Analysis, 31:1, 139–153.
Lang, D. (2015) ‘The Not-Quite-Quadrilateral: Australia, Japan & India’, ASPI Strategic Insights Series, July.
Lang, D. (2015a) ‘Security interests draw Japan, Australia and India closer’, Japan Times, July 8. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/07/08/commentary/japan-commentary/security-interests-draw-japan-australia-india-closer/
Mearsheimer, J. J. (1994) ‘The False Promise of International Institutions’, International Security, 19(3), 5–49.
Medcalf, R. (2014) ‘In Defence of the Indo-Pacific: Australia's New Strategic Map’, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 68(4), 470–483.
Miller, J. B. (2016) ‘US-Japan-India Trilateral Relations: Opportunities and Challenges’, The Asan Forum, December 8.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) (2017) ‘Japan-Australia-India Trilateral Dialogue Senior Officials Meeting’, 29 April, Canberra, Australia.
Modi, N. (2016) ‘PM Narendra Modi’s Speech in US Congress’, The Indian Express, June 10.
Mohan, C. R. and R. Medcalf (2017) ‘Delhi, Tokyo, Canberra: They Could Build the First of Multiple Middle Power Coalitions for Regional Resilience in Trump’s World’, The Indian Express, February 10.
Mulgan, A. G. (2008) ‘Breaking the Mould: Japan’s Subtle Shift from Exclusive Bilateralism to Modest Minilateralism’, Contemporary Southeast Asia, 30(1), 52–72.
Nagao, S. (2015) ‘The Japan-India-Australia “Alliance” as Key Agreement in the Indo-Pacific’, ISPSW Strategy Series, No. 375, September.
Naim, M. (2009) ‘Minilateralism: The magic number to get real international action’, Foreign Policy, June 21.
Pan, C. (2014) ‘The ‘Indo-Pacific’ and Geopolitical Anxieties About China’s Rise in the Asian Regional Order, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 68(4), 456–469.
Phillips, A. (2016) ‘From Hollywood to Bollywood?: Recasting Australia’s Indo/Pacific Strategic Geography’, Strategy, ASPI.
Raghuvanshi, V. (2015) ‘Japan To Join Malabar as Permanent Participant’, Defense News, October 13. http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/naval/navy/2015/10/13/japan-join-malabar-permanent-participant/73828110/
Ravenhill, J. (2001) APEC and the Construction of Pacific Rim Regionalism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rogin, J. (2011) ‘Inside the First Ever US-Japan-India Trilateral Meeting’, Foreign Policy, December 23.
Sahashi, R. (2009) ‘Conceptualising the Three-Tier Approach to Analyse the Security Arrangements in the Asia-Pacific’, Working Paper 415, Canberra: Strategic & Defence Studies Center.
Sharma, A. (2010) ‘The Quadrilateral Initiative: An Evaluation’, South Asian Survey, 17(2), 237–253.
Tillerson, R. (2017) ‘Remarks on Defining Our Relationship with India for the Next Century’, 18 October, CSIS, Washington D.C. https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2017/10/274913.htm
Tow, W. (2009) ‘Assessing the Trilateral Strategic Dialogue’, East Asia Forum, February 12.
White, H. (2016) ‘The Indo-Pacific: Talking About It Doesn’t Make It Real’. ASPI, November 22.
Yoshihara, T. (2013) ‘The US Navy’s Indo-Pacific Challenge’, Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 9(1), 90–103.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lee-Brown, T. Asia’s Security Triangles: Maritime Minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific. East Asia 35, 163–176 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-018-9290-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-018-9290-9