About this Research Topic
Regions in world politics have attracted a vast amount of scholarly attention for their geopolitical, economic, cultural, and strategic significance. The Indo-Pacific region, a pivotal arena for global geopolitics, serves as a dynamic nexus where strategic interests, economic ambitions, and environmental challenges intersect. The region represents a vast and diverse geospatial expanse, including a variety of actors, processes, and institutions emerging in the region. Home to two-thirds of the world's economic production and 60% of the world's population, and a preferred source and destination of global FDI, the region is a crucial part of the major and vital global supply chains. The region's crucial sea lanes, essential for global trade and energy security, increase its significance. Additionally, the region has complex and intertwined historical legacies, with diverse cultures, religions, ethnicities, social norms, and values shaping interactions and perceptions. Technology and innovation play a crucial role in shaping the future of the Indo-Pacific. Advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and space exploration offer immense opportunities for economic growth and development.
While the terminology and dimensions of the region open it up for larger cooperation, simultaneously challenges abound. While territorial disputes, maritime tensions, strategic competition, regional stability, and a delicate balance of power are some of the geopolitical security concerns, there are also non-traditional threats like disaster management (most recently, COVID-19), climate change, pollution, natural resource depletion, resilience of global supply chains, regional connectivity issues, terrorism, piracy, and cyber security. There are ethical and security challenges, including concerns over data privacy, technological dominance, and the militarization of outer space. The complex political economy and the push for global governance further complicate regional dynamics. This backdrop sets the stage for examining the expansion of the region's scope, the unraveling of intricate processes, and the exploration of emerging institutional frameworks aimed at fostering regional cooperation and competition. Decoding the Indo-Pacific involves delving into its multifaceted dimensions and exploring the myriad issues and challenges of this region.
The overarching goal of this research is to dissect the intricate landscape of the Indo-Pacific region, characterized by its burgeoning security concerns, governance challenges, and strategic competitions amidst environmental vulnerabilities. This endeavor seeks to navigate the confluence of traditional and non-traditional security threats, geopolitical frictions, and economic interdependencies that collectively influence regional and global stability. By employing a multidisciplinary approach, our objective is to unravel the complexities of the Indo-Pacific, emphasizing the synergy and contention among regional actors, processes, and institutional frameworks.
The present Research Topic aims to offer insights into the dynamics of cooperation and competition within this primarily maritime expanse, highlighting the potential for regional collaboration to foster stability and prosperity. Contributions are expected to be original, exploring niche areas of expertise within the geopolitical, economic, environmental, cultural, and technological spheres of the Indo-Pacific, requiring a comprehensive analysis of the region's multifaceted dimensions. The initiative aspires to guide policy formulation, promote sustainable development, and enhance resilience, ultimately contributing to a cohesive strategy for addressing shared challenges and advancing global peace and prosperity.
The scope of this Collection, ' Decoding the Indo-Pacific: The Region, Issues, and Challenges,' encompasses a broad spectrum of subthemes—geopolitics, security, political economy, environmental issues, technological innovations and advancements, diverse cultural and social fabric, emerging institutional mechanisms—to understand the contemporary dynamics of the Indo-Pacific region.
Thus, we look for contributions that explore traditional and non-traditional security challenges, including maritime security, cyber threats, and terrorism, alongside strategic competition among major powers. Analyses on the governance of global commons, regional connectivity, and the political economy are particularly welcome, as are insights into the impacts of climate change on regional stability.We encourage submissions that examine the prospects for regional alliances and cooperation, the role of emerging institutional mechanisms, and the geopolitical and economic competition shaping the region's future. Contributions may also delve into the expansion of the region's scope, unraveling the roles of diverse actors, processes, and issues at play.
We are interested in receiving a variety of original research articles. Authors are encouraged to adopt interdisciplinary approaches that combine insights from international relations, political science, economics, environmental studies, and security studies to enrich the discourse on the Indo-Pacific region.
While the terminology and dimensions of the region open it up for larger cooperation, simultaneously challenges abound. While territorial disputes, maritime tensions, strategic competition, regional stability, and a delicate balance of power are some of the geopolitical security concerns, there are also non-traditional threats like disaster management (most recently, COVID-19), climate change, pollution, natural resource depletion, resilience of global supply chains, regional connectivity issues, terrorism, piracy, and cyber security. There are ethical and security challenges, including concerns over data privacy, technological dominance, and the militarization of outer space. The complex political economy and the push for global governance further complicate regional dynamics. This backdrop sets the stage for examining the expansion of the region's scope, the unraveling of intricate processes, and the exploration of emerging institutional frameworks aimed at fostering regional cooperation and competition. Decoding the Indo-Pacific involves delving into its multifaceted dimensions and exploring the myriad issues and challenges of this region.
The overarching goal of this research is to dissect the intricate landscape of the Indo-Pacific region, characterized by its burgeoning security concerns, governance challenges, and strategic competitions amidst environmental vulnerabilities. This endeavor seeks to navigate the confluence of traditional and non-traditional security threats, geopolitical frictions, and economic interdependencies that collectively influence regional and global stability. By employing a multidisciplinary approach, our objective is to unravel the complexities of the Indo-Pacific, emphasizing the synergy and contention among regional actors, processes, and institutional frameworks.
The present Research Topic aims to offer insights into the dynamics of cooperation and competition within this primarily maritime expanse, highlighting the potential for regional collaboration to foster stability and prosperity. Contributions are expected to be original, exploring niche areas of expertise within the geopolitical, economic, environmental, cultural, and technological spheres of the Indo-Pacific, requiring a comprehensive analysis of the region's multifaceted dimensions. The initiative aspires to guide policy formulation, promote sustainable development, and enhance resilience, ultimately contributing to a cohesive strategy for addressing shared challenges and advancing global peace and prosperity.
The scope of this Collection, ' Decoding the Indo-Pacific: The Region, Issues, and Challenges,' encompasses a broad spectrum of subthemes—geopolitics, security, political economy, environmental issues, technological innovations and advancements, diverse cultural and social fabric, emerging institutional mechanisms—to understand the contemporary dynamics of the Indo-Pacific region.
Thus, we look for contributions that explore traditional and non-traditional security challenges, including maritime security, cyber threats, and terrorism, alongside strategic competition among major powers. Analyses on the governance of global commons, regional connectivity, and the political economy are particularly welcome, as are insights into the impacts of climate change on regional stability.We encourage submissions that examine the prospects for regional alliances and cooperation, the role of emerging institutional mechanisms, and the geopolitical and economic competition shaping the region's future. Contributions may also delve into the expansion of the region's scope, unraveling the roles of diverse actors, processes, and issues at play.
We are interested in receiving a variety of original research articles. Authors are encouraged to adopt interdisciplinary approaches that combine insights from international relations, political science, economics, environmental studies, and security studies to enrich the discourse on the Indo-Pacific region.
Keywords: Indo-Pacific, diverse players, geopolitics, security, traditional security, non-traditional security, regional cooperation, institutional processes, institutional mechanisms, issues, challenges
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
