BLOG - H-Diplo/ISSF Roundtable on Looking for Balance: China, the United States, and Power Balancing in East Asia

Will Asia be the site of the next major global conflict or will Asias future continue to be characterized by peace and stability? This question has invited a veritable multitude of arguments and counterarguments during the last two decades as scholars have tried to assess the implications of growing Chinese power for the international system. Some have feared that the rest of Asia will build up its armaments in response to Chinas growing strength, creating a dangerous and unstable situation. They have even raised the possibility that the United States might get drawn into Asias next war.[1] Others have taken a far more sanguine view of the prospects for peace in the region, contending that Chinas neighbors do not necessarily see it as a threat and that growing economic interdependence makes military conflict unlikely.[2]