Professor Kanti Bajpai's talk asks a central question: what role are China, Japan, and South Korea (hereafter Korea) playing in the global order? The dominant view is that the US delivered order both globally and regionally (in select regions). An emerging view is that China is on the rise and will be the dominant world power perhaps by mid-century and that a Sinic global order is likely: led by China, Asia will (once again) be the dominant force in order construction. In fact, while China is rising, and the East Asian triumvirate of China, Japan, and South Korea are certainly playing an increasing role in provisioning order, the US and Western countries still lead. Judged by their financial contributions to various global orders, the East Asians are now firmly part of a triumvirate that sustains the norms, institutions, and practices of global governance. Professor Bajpai therefore argues that global order is being sustained by a range of countries/regions, even if differentially, and that order is neither a US gift nor will it be a Chinese gift.
This is the eleventh in a series of 'Politics and IR Brown Bag Lunch Sessions' organised by the Centre on Asia and Globalisation. Launched in Academic Year 2017/18, the new initiative aims to provide a more casual and intimate setting for CAG faculty members to share their nascent research ideas on international relations over lunch, as well as engaging in unconstrained and thought-provoking discussion.