ABSTRACT
This was the period when international politics in the Asia-Pacific, as elsewhere in the world, were greatly shaped by the attempts of the United States and the Soviet Union to consolidate their respective sides of the Cold War as part of the management of central balance of power between them. Although the alliance patterns in the Asia-Pacific were bilateral and much more volatile than in Europe-as attested by the collapse of the Sino-Soviet alliance into acrimony and bitter rivalrythey nevertheless reflected the essential bipolar character of international politics of the period. Most of the countries in the region were linked to one or other of the two superpowers and the changing character of Soviet-American relations had a discernible impact upon the points of conflict and cooperation in the region.
