ABSTRACT
In Asia-Pacific, the United States is the strongest power in terms of political, economic, technological and military capabilities, but that has not allowed it to determine the economic, political, security and other forms of interaction in the region unilaterally, specifically because of the existence of other powers, like Japan, China, Russia and India. These Asian powers may not have the wherewithal of power at the moment to challenge the supremacy of the United States but can deter its hegemonic role. 1 As other powers develop their economic and
military capabilities in course of time and thus their leverage, there is the likelihood of a gradual decline of American predominance in the region and of growing prospects for the region to move slowly towards a polycentric system. But the process towards a polycentric system is not going to be smooth while new powers are emerging in the context of a shifting strategic order. The region, therefore, has to create a new balance of power amidst conditions that are rapidly changing in terms of (a) the disintegration of the Cold War-induced ideological, economic and political divide; (b) the dynamic growth of the region’s economies in spite of the setback caused by the Asian economic turmoil and global recession and (c) the resurgence in power of the regional states. All of these are creating a new environment that requires new structures of peace and stability. The strategic imperatives for cooperation arise from these uncertainties in the regional security environment.
