ABSTRACT
War and means to wage it have been at the centre of reflection on international politics since its very beginning. For a long time it was understood to represent mainly military power. Although the scale and character of military power’s influence on international politics have evolved (especially since the end of the Cold War), war is still regarded as a useful tool of foreign policy. This chapter aims to explain how military power can be used by states to conduct international politics and illustrate how this affects the Indo-Pacific region.
The chapter consists of three parts. It starts with an introduction of basic concepts necessary for the study of international politics’ military aspects. They include the constituent elements of military power, functions performed by armed forces in contemporary states, as well as strategy and doctrine. Next comes a short discussion of the characteristics of the Indo-Pacific region as a geostrategic area of military competition and offers an analysis of military strategies employed by selected Indo-Pacific states. Overall the chapter illustrates how states with different levels of power resources (global military powers, regional powers, middle powers and small powers) are using their militaries to influence regional politics.
