Overview

In the sphere of future global politics, no region will be as hotly contested as the Asia-Pacific, where great power interests collide amid the mistrust of unresolved conflicts and disputed territory. This is where authoritarian China is trying to rewrite international law and challenge the democratic values of the United States and its allies. The lightning rods of conflict are remote reefs and islands from which China has created military bases in the 1.5-million-square-mile expanse of the South China Sea, a crucial world trading route that this rising world power now claims as its own. No other Asian country can take on China alone. They look for protection from the United States, although it, too, may be ill-equipped for the job at hand. If China does get away with seizing and militarizing waters here, what will it do elsewhere in the world, and who will be able to stop it? In Asian Waters, award-winning foreign correspondent Humphrey Hawksley breaks down the politics—and tensions—that he has followed through this region for years. Reporting on decades of political developments, he has witnessed China's rise to become one of the world's most wealthy and militarized countries, and delivers in Asian Waters the compelling narrative of this most volatile region. Can the United States and China handle the changing balance of power peacefully? Do Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan share enough common purpose to create a NATO-esque multilateral alliance? Does China think it can even become a superpower while making an enemy of America? If so, how does it plan to achieve it? Asian Waters delves into these topics and more as Hawksley presents the most comprehensive and accessible analysis ever of this region.

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9781468314786

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Reviews

A readable and very well-informed guide to an area of real tension in the early decades of this century.--Baron Lord Patten of Barnes, the Last Governor of Hong Kong, Chancellor of Oxford University Humphrey Hawksley has long and rich experience of life in Asia, and has used this to inform this lucid, lively account of the frontier if Chinese aspirations--the region in which it sits. It is here that the true face of Chinese power is being revealed--the waters of Asia. There are fewer better guides to this than Mr. Hawksley.--Kerry Brown, Director of Lau China Institute, Kings College, London, author of China's World: What Does China Want? and CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping

A readable and very well-informed guide to an area of real tension in the early decades of this century.--Baron Lord Patten of Barnes, the Last Governor of Hong Kong, Chancellor of Oxford University Humphrey Hawksley has long and rich experience of life in Asia, and has used this to inform this lucid, lively account of the frontier if Chinese aspirations--the region in which it sits. It is here that the true face of Chinese power is being revealed--the waters of Asia. There are fewer better guides to this than Mr. Hawksley.--Kerry Brown, Director of Lau China Institute, Kings College, London, author of China's World: What Does China Want? and CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping A vivid and highly readable guide to one of the great flash points of the 21st century.--Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times Humphrey Hawksley is without doubt a master storyteller. . . . Great power politics will define Asia's future path. But in order to see what may lie ahead, it is critical to understand the people, the personalities, and the psychologies that drive the decision-making processes. Hawksley's ability to do just that is second to none.--Shihoko Goto, Senior Associate for Northeast Asia, Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson Center Hawksley' s writing style is accessible even when his subject grows more complex, ranging from geographic diversity to narration about history and politics. This book is a helpful primer to better understand the tools available to those formulating the South China Sea policy. Whether it is navigating on the political waves in East Asia, or exploring the great power status, the book offers a generous insight.--Dr. Wu Shicun, President of National Institute for South China Sea Studies Hawksley has a knack for delivering pointed arguments and parallels amid a concise array of key historical events.--Susan Froetschel Asian Waters plays a critical role in defining India's importance in the evolving geo-strategic matrix. . . . To understand the new Indo-Pacific region, Asian Waters is a must read. --Major General Ashok K. Mehta, Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, India Asian Waters is a timely, detailed and balanced examination of one of the crucial geo-political fault-lines of the twenty-first century. Its insights and analysis accurately map the complexity of the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the choices open to policy-makers and a range of outcomes that could lead to cooperation, confrontation or conflict. --Admiral Chris Parry CBE, (Rtd.), author of Super Highway: Sea Power in the 21st Century Asian Waters . . . recently became my ideal travel companion on a long flight to Australia, en route to the South China Sea. For any other reader hoping to navigate those troubled waters, or seeking a broad overview of the geopolitical fault lines in Asia, Hawksley's book provides an excellent guide. --Jonas Parello-Plesner

Author Information

Humphrey Hawksley is an award-winning BBC correspondent and the author of numerous titles on global politics, foreign policy, and democracy. He has written for the Guardian, the Times, Financial Times, and other publications.

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