Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyses the most controversial and compelling security debates of the twenty-first century. It examines contemporary great power relations between the US, China, Russia, India and the EU. The book then explores the development of US–China relations. It also focuses on the nature and development of more harmonious relations between the US – arguably an Asia-Pacific power – and India. The book considers the contemporary state of relations between former Cold War adversaries, the US and Russia. It then reflects on a range of structural and political impediments to a more productive and positive relationship between the China and India, arguing at best for 'managed competition'. The book assesses a clash of differing discourses between the realist, hard power-focused Russian Federation and its softer, Kantian neighbour in the form of the EU.