The Asia Pacific's "Age of Uncertainty": Great Power Competition, Globalisation and the Economic-Security Nexus

We live in an “age of uncertainty”. On the one hand, a power transition seems to be upon us: China has risen, the United States’ resolve and commitment are uncertain, and other regional powers with different political systems are also resurgent. On the other hand, unprecedented globalised inter-dependence creates connectivity and vulnerability in equal measure. Alongside these trends, the onset of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” promises rapid and unpredictable technological change that could revolutionise defence, economic, and social organisations and relations. Amid these rapid and seemingly chaotic shifts, the inter-connections between economics and security not only become more complex, but also more urgent and significant. In what follows, the most important elements of our age of uncertainty are distilled. The paper then sketches three ways in which the economic-security nexus needs to be understood and managed in the Asia Pacific if we are to weather the ongoing transition.