ABSTRACT
Increasing tension among major powers caused by articulation of conflicting strategic interests in different parts of the world became the defining feature of global security in 2012-13.The United States’ (US) announcement of deployment of 60 per cent of its naval assets in the Asia-Pacific region under the policy of so-called ‘pivot’ to Asia, later described as ‘re-balancing’ angered China. The continued assertiveness of China in the South China Sea and East China Sea raised the hackles of the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan and provided raw justification to the US policy of ‘re-balancing’. Russia’s disenchantment with the US on the question of their missile defence shield in Europe drove them further apart and crystallised their differences on a number of other strategic issues. On simmering conflicts like Syria and Iran, Russia and China were often found on the opposite side of the US and the West. This pattern of conflicting strategic interests between these three global powers is likely to haunt the world for the next ten years or more.
